Epistles |
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Penelope Ulixi Haec tua Penelope lento tibi mittit , Ulixe ; Nil mihi rescribas attinet : ipse veni ! Troia iacet certe , Danais invisa puellis ; Vix Priamus tanti totaque Troia fuit . O utinam tum , cum Lacedaemona classe petebat , Obrutus insanis esset adulter aquis ! Non ego deserto iacuissem frigida lecto , Nec quererer tardos ire relicta dies ; Nec mihi quaerenti spatiosam fallere noctem Lassaret viduas pendula tela manus . Quando ego non timui graviora pericula veris ? Res est solliciti plena timoris amor . In te fingebam violentos Troas ituros ; Nomine in Hectoreo pallida semper eram . Sive quis Antilochum narrabat ab hoste revictum , Antilochus nostri causa timoris erat ; Sive Menoetiaden falsis cecidisse sub armis , Flebam successu posse carere dolos . Sanguine Tlepolemus Lyciam tepefecerat hastam ; Tlepolemi leto cura novata mea est . Denique , quisquis erat castris iugulatus Achivis , Frigidius glacie pectus amantis erat . Sed bene consuluit casto deus aequus amori . Versa est in cineres sospite Troia viro . Argolici rediere duces , altaria fumant ; Ponitur ad patrios barbara praeda deos . Grata ferunt nymphae pro salvis dona maritis ; Illi victa suis Troica fata canunt . Mirantur iustique senes trepidaeque puellae ; Narrantis coniunx pendet ab ore viri . Atque aliquis posita monstrat fera proelia mensa , Pingit et exiguo Pergama tota mero : 'Hac ibat Simois ; haec est Sigeia tellus ; Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis . Illic Aeacides , illic tendebat Ulixes ; Hic lacer admissos terruit Hector equos .' Omnia namque tuo senior te quaerere misso Rettulerat nato Nestor , at ille mihi . Rettulit et ferro Rhesumque Dolonaque caesos , Utque sit hic somno proditus , ille dolo . Ausus es — o nimium nimiumque oblite tuorum ! — Thracia nocturno tangere castra dolo Totque simul mactare viros , adiutus ab uno ! At bene cautus eras et memor ante mei ! Usque metu micuere sinus , dum victor amicum Dictus es Ismariis isse per agmen equis . Sed mihi quid prodest vestris disiecta lacertis Ilios et , murus quod fuit , esse solum , Si maneo , qualis Troia durante manebam , Virque mihi dempto fine carendus abest ? Diruta sunt aliis , uni mihi Pergama restant , Incola captivo quae bove victor arat . Iam seges est , ubi Troia fuit , resecandaque falce Luxuriat Phrygio sanguine pinguis humus ; Semisepulta virum curvis feriuntur aratris Ossa , ruinosas occulit herba domos . Victor abes , nec scire mihi , quae causa morandi , Aut in quo lateas ferreus orbe , licet ! Quisquis ad haec vertit peregrinam litora puppim , Ille mihi de te multa rogatus abit , Quamque tibi reddat , si te modo viderit usquam , Traditur huic digitis charta notata meis . Nos Pylon , antiqui Neleia Nestoris arva , Misimus ; incerta est fama remissa Pylo . Misimus et Sparten ; Sparte quoque nescia veri . Quas habitas terras , aut ubi lentus abes ? Utilius starent etiamnunc moenia Phoebi — Irascor votis , heu , levis ipsa meis ! Scirem ubi pugnares , et tantum bella timerem , Et mea cum multis iuncta querela foret . Quid timeam , ignoro — timeo tamen omnia demens , Et patet in curas area lata meas . Quaecumque aequor habet , quaecumque pericula tellus , Tam longae causas suspicor esse morae . Haec ego dum stulte metuo , quae vestra libido est , Esse peregrino captus amore potes . Forsitan et narres , quam sit tibi rustica coniunx , Quae tantum lanas non sinat esse rudes . Fallar , et hoc crimen tenues vanescat in auras , Neve , revertendi liber , abesse velis ! Me pater Icarius viduo discedere lecto Cogit et immensas increpat usque moras . Increpet usque licet — tua sum , tua dicar oportet ; Penelope coniunx semper Ulixis ero . Ille tamen pietate mea precibusque pudicis Frangitur et vires temperat ipse suas . Dulichii Samiique et quos tulit alta Zacynthos , Turba ruunt in me luxuriosa proci , Inque tua regnant nullis prohibentibus aula ; Viscera nostra , tuae dilacerantur opes . Quid tibi Pisandrum Polybumque Medontaque dirum Eurymachique avidas Antinoique manus Atque alios referam , quos omnis turpiter absens Ipse tuo partis sanguine rebus alis ? Irus egens pecorisque Melanthius actor edendi Ultimus accedunt in tua damna pudor . Tres sumus inbelles numero , sine viribus uxor Laertesque senex Telemachusque puer . Ille per insidias paene est mihi nuper ademptus , Dum parat invitis omnibus ire Pylon . Di , precor , hoc iubeant , ut euntibus ordine fatis Ille meos oculos conprimat , ille tuos ! Hac faciunt custosque boum longaevaque nutrix , Tertius inmundae cura fidelis harae ; Sed neque Laertes , ut qui sit inutilis armis , Hostibus in mediis regna tenere potest — Telemacho veniet , vivat modo , fortior aetas ; Nunc erat auxiliis illa tuenda patris — Nec mihi sunt vires inimicos pellere tectis . Tu citius venias , portus et ara tuis ! Est tibi sitque , precor , natus , qui mollibus annis In patrias artes erudiendus erat . Respice Laerten ; ut tu sua lumina condas , Extremum fati sustinet ille diem . Certe ego , quae fueram te discedente puella , Protinus ut venias , facta videbor anus .
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Penelope to Ulysses DEAR Ulysses, your Penelope sends this epistle to you, so slow in your return home; write not any answer, but come yourself. Troy is no more, that city so justly odious to the Grecian dames: scarcely were Priam and all his kingdom worth such a mighty stir. Oh, how I wish that the infamous adulterer, when he sailed for Lacedæmon with his fleet, had been swallowed up by the raging seas! I had not then lain cold in a solitary bed, nor thus forlorn complained of the tedious days; the pendulous web would not then have tired my tender hands, while by such means I sought to elude the lingering nights. How often has my apprehension magnified your dangers? Love is a passion full of anxiety and fear. I often fancied you to myself assaulted by furious Trojans; and on hearing the name of Hector always turned pale. If any one informed me that Antilochus had been slain by that hero, the fate of Antilochus proved the cause of fresh disquiet to me; or, if informed that Patroclus had fallen in counterfeit armour, I lamented that this stratagem should fail of success. Tlepolemus had stained the Lycian spear with his blood, my anxiety was renewed by the catastrophè of Tlepolemus. In fine, as often as any fell in the Grecian camp, my fond heart was chilled with icy fear. But the righteous gods had regard to my chaste flame; my husband lives, and Troy is reduced to ashes. The Grecian chiefs have returned; our altars smoke; and the spoils of the barbarians are offered up to our gods. The matrons present grateful gifts for the safe return of their husbands; they in their turn sing the fate of Troy, constrained to yield to their better fortune. The good old men and timorous maids are stricken with admiration; and the eager wife hangs upon her husband's tongue as he relates. Some, ordering a table to be brought, describe upon it the fierce battles in which they were engaged, and with a little wine trace out the whole of Troy. This way, they say, flowed Simois; here is the Sigæan field; here stood the lofty palace of old Priam. There was the tent of Achilles; yonder that of Ulysses; here mangled Hector frightened the foaming horses; for old Nestor related all to your son, whom I sent to enquire after you; and he again to me. He told me likewise, that Rhesus and Dolon had been slain; how the one was surprised in his sleep, the other betrayed by guile. You also, my dear husband, alas! too, too forgetful of your family at home, adventured to enter the Thracian camp by stratagem in the night, and, assisted by Diomedes alone, to kill so great a number of men. No doubt you were wonderfully cautious, and did not forget your Penelope before the dangerous attempt. My heart never ceased beating till I heard how you rode victorious through the army of your friends upon Thracian horses. But what does it avail me that Troy has fallen by your hands, and that the spot, where formerly its walls stood, is now a level plain, if I still continue forlorn as when Troy flourished, and my husband is absent never to return? Troy remains to me alone; to others it is destroyed, and the victorious inhabitant tills it with the captive ox. Now corn grows where once Troy stood; and the ground, fattened by Phrygian blood, produces a rich crop that tempts the hand of the reaper. The half-buried bones of heroes are ploughed up by the crooked share; and rising grass covers the ruins of the houses. Though victorious, you are still absent; nor can I possibly know the cause of your long stay, or in what corner of the world my cruel Ulysses lurks. Whatever stranger touches upon these coasts, is sure to be teased with a thousand questions about you; and, when he departs, is charged with a letter to deliver to you, in whatever region of the world he may chance to see you. We sent to Pylos, the Neleian kingdom of old Nestor; but we thence received no account beside uncertain report. We sent likewise to Sparta; but Sparta, being equally ignorant of the truth, left us uncertain that lands you might be wandering over, or where you could make so long a stay. It would be better for me, if the walls of Troy were still standing. Alas! unstable and unhappy, I am offended at my own wishes. I should know in what part of the world you fought, and dread only the dangers of war; nor should I be without companions to join in my complaint. Now I know not what to fear most. I am apt to fancy you exposed to every kind of hazard, and find myself bewildered in a wide field of care. Whatever dangers arise either from sea or land, these I suspect may be the causes of so long a delay. While I thus fondly revolve these things within myself, your it is possible, are the slave of some foreign beauty (such is the inconstancy of man). Perhaps too you divert her by telling what a homely wife you have, who minds only the spindle and the distaff. But I may be deceived, and this imaginary crime may vanish into mere air and conceit; nor can I persuade myself, that, if free to return, you would be absent from me. My father Icarius urges me to leave this widowed state, and never ceases chiding me for my continued delays. Let him chide on; I am yours, and must be called yours; Penelope will ever remain the wife of Ulysses. He at length is softened by my piety and chaste prayers, and forbears to use his authority. A dissipated set of wooers from Dulichium, Samos, and lofty Zacynthos, teize me without intermission. They reign uncontrolled in your palace, and devour your wealth, our very life and support. Why should I mention Pisander, Polybus, ugly Medon, and covetous Eurymachus and Antinoüs, beside many others, who all in your absence live upon the means gained at the hazard of your life? Indigent Irus, and your goat-herd Melanthius, serve to finish your disgrace. We are only three in number, unable to defend ourselves; your wife weak and helpless, Laërtes an old man, and Telemachus a child. That beloved boy we were lately in danger of losing, as, against all our wills, he prepared to go in quest of you to Pylos. May the gods grant, that by the order of fate he may be appointed to close my eyes; to close also yours. The neat-herd, swine-herd, and aged nurse, all join in this prayer. Laërtes, now unfit for arms, is unable to maintain your right against such a crowd of enemies. Telemachus, it is true, if spared, will arrive at a more vigorous age; but at present he requires his father's protection. Nor can it be supposed that I am able to drive away this hostile crowd. Come therefore speedily, you who are our only defence and sanctuary! You have (whom Heaven preserve) a son, whose tender years should have been formed to his father's virtue and prudence. Think of Laertes, and that it is your duty to close his eyes; he now languishes on the verge of dissolution. Surely I, who, when you left me, was but a girl, when you return must appear old and decayed. |
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Phyllis Demophoonti Hospita , Demophoon, tua te Rhodopeia Phyllis Ultra promissum tempus abesse queror . Cornua cum lunae pleno semel orbe coissent , Litoribus nostris ancora pacta tua est — Luna quater latuit , toto quater orbe recrevit ; Nec vehit Actaeas Sithonis unda rates . Tempora si numeres — bene quae numeramus amantes — Non venit ante suam nostra querela diem . Spes quoque lenta fuit ; tarde , quae credita laedunt , Credimus . invita nunc es amante nocens . Saepe fui mendax pro te mihi , saepe putavi Alba procellosos vela referre Notos . Thesea devovi , quia te dimittere nollet ; Nec tenuit cursus forsitan ille tuos . Interdum timui , ne , dum vada tendis ad Hebri , Mersa foret cana naufraga puppis aqua . Saepe deos supplex , ut tu , scelerate , valeres , Cum prece turicremis sum venerata sacris ; Saepe , videns ventos caelo pelagoque faventes , Ipsa mihi dixi : 'si valet ille , venit .' Denique fidus amor , quidquid properantibus obstat , Finxit , et ad causas ingeniosa fui . At tu lentus abes ; nec te iurata reducunt Numina , nec nostro motus amore redis . Demophoon , ventis et verba et vela dedisti ; Vela queror reditu , verba carere fide . Dic mihi , quid feci , nisi non sapienter amavi ? Crimine te potui demeruisse meo . Unum in me scelus est , quod te , scelerate , recepi ; Sed scelus hoc meriti pondus et instar habet . Iura fidesque ubi nunc , commissaque dextera dextrae , Quique erat in falso plurimus ore deus ? Promissus socios ubi nunc Hymenaeus in annos , Qui mihi coniugii sponsor et obses erat ? Per mare , quod totum ventis agitatur et undis , Per quod nempe ieras , per quod iturus eras , Perque tuum mihi iurasti — nisi fictus et ille est — Concita qui ventis aequora mulcet , avum , Per Venerem nimiumque mihi facientia tela — Altera tela arcus , altera tela faces — Iunonemque , toris quae praesidet alma maritis , Et per taediferae mystica sacra deae . Si de tot laesis sua numina quisque deorum Vindicet , in poenas non satis unus eris . Ah , laceras etiam puppes furiosa refeci , Ut , qua desererer , firma carina foret , Remigiumque dedi , quod me fugiturus haberes . Heu ! patior telis vulnera facta meis ! Credidimus blandis , quorum tibi copia , verbis ; Credidimus generi nominibusque tuis ; Credidimus lacrimis — an et hae simulare docentur ? Hae quoque habent artes , quaque iubentur , eunt ? Dis quoque credidimus . quo iam tot pignora nobis ? Parte satis potui qualibet inde capi . Nec moveor , quod te iuvi portuque locoque — Debuit haec meriti summa fuisse mei ! Turpiter hospitium lecto cumulasse iugali Paenitet , et lateri conseruisse latus . Quae fuit ante illam , mallem suprema fuisset Nox mihi , dum potui Phyllis honesta mori . Speravi melius , quia me meruisse putavi ; Quaecumque ex merito spes venit , aequa venit . Fallere credentem non est operosa puellam Gloria . simplicitas digna favore fuit . Sum decepta tuis et amans et femina verbis . Di faciant , laudis summa sit ista tuae ! Inter et Aegidas , media statuaris in urbe , Magnificus titulis stet pater ante suis . Cum fuerit Sciron lectus torvusque Procrustes Et Sinis et tauri mixtaque forma viri Et domitae bello Thebae fusique bimembres Et pulsata nigri regia caeca dei — Hoc tua post illos titulo signetur imago : Hic est , cuius amans hospita capta dolo est . De tanta rerum turba factisque parentis Sedit in ingenio Cressa relicta tuo . Quod solum excusat , solum miraris in illo ; Heredem patriae , perfide , fraudis agis . Illa — nec invideo — fruitur meliore marito Inque capistratis tigribus alta sedet ; At mea despecti fugiunt conubia Thraces , Quod ferar externum praeposuisse meis . Atque aliquis 'iam nunc doctas eat ,' inquit , 'Athenas ; Armiferam Thracen qui regat , alter erit . Exitus acta probat .' careat successibus , opto , Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat ! At si nostra tuo spumescant aequora remo , Iam mihi , iam dicar consuluisse meis — Sed neque consului , nec te mea regia tanget Fessaque Bistonia membra lavabis aqua ! Illa meis oculis species abeuntis inhaeret , Cum premeret portus classis itura meos . Ausus es amplecti colloque infusus amantis Oscula per longas iungere pressa moras Cumque tuis lacrimis lacrimas confundere nostras , Quodque foret velis aura secunda , queri Et mihi discedens suprema dicere voce : 'Phylli , fac expectes Demophoonta tuum !' Expectem , qui me numquam visurus abisti ? Expectem pelago vela negata meo ? Et tamen expecto — redeas modo serus amanti , Ut tua sit solo tempore lapsa fides ! Quid precor infelix ? te iam tenet altera coniunx Forsitan et , nobis qui male favit , amor ; Iamque tibi excidimus , nullam , puto , Phyllida nosti . Ei mihi ! si , quae sim Phyllis et unde , rogas — Quae tibi , Demophoon , longis erroribus acto Threicios portus hospitiumque dedi , Cuius opes auxere meae , cui dives egenti Munera multa dedi , multa datura fui ; Quae tibi subieci latissima regna Lycurgi , Nomine femineo vix satis apta regi , Qua patet umbrosum Rhodope glacialis ad Haemum , Et sacer admissas exigit Hebrus aquas , Cui mea virginitas avibus libata sinistris Castaque fallaci zona recincta manu ! Pronuba Tisiphone thalamis ululavit in illis , Et cecinit maestum devia carmen avis ; Adfuit Allecto brevibus torquata colubris , Suntque sepulcrali lumina mota face ! Maesta tamen scopulos fruticosaque litora calco Quaeque patent oculis litora lata meis . Sive die laxatur humus , seu frigida lucent Sidera , prospicio , quis freta ventus agat ; Et quaecumque procul venientia lintea vidi , Protinus illa meos auguror esse deos . In freta procurro , vix me retinentibus undis , Mobile qua primas porrigit aequor aquas . Quo magis accedunt , minus et minus utilis adsto ; Linquor et ancillis excipienda cado . Est sinus , adductos modice falcatus in arcus ; Ultima praerupta cornua mole rigent . Hinc mihi suppositas inmittere corpus in undas Mens fuit ; et , quoniam fallere pergis , erit . Ad tua me fluctus proiectam litora portent , Occurramque oculis intumulata tuis ! Duritia ferrum ut superes adamantaque teque , 'Non tibi sic ,' dices , 'Phylli , sequendus eram !' Saepe venenorum sitis est mihi ; saepe cruenta Traiectam gladio morte perire iuvat . Colla quoque , infidis quia se nectenda lacertis Praebuerunt , laqueis inplicuisse iuvat . Stat nece matura tenerum pensare pudorem . In necis electu parva futura mora est . Inscribere meo causa invidiosa sepulcro . Aut hoc aut simili carmine notus eris : Phyllida Demophoon leto dedit hospes amantem ; Ille necis causam praebuit , ipsa manum .
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Phyllis to Demophoon O DEMOPHOÖN, Phyllis, your Thracian hostess, complains of your absence beyond the promised time. You engaged to drop anchor on our coast, when the moon should have completed her orb. Already she hath four times waned, four times renewed her full orb; and your Athenian ships do not yet stem the Thracian tide. If you reckon time in the minute manner we lovers do, this complaint will not appear to have come before its day. Hope forsook me slowly too: we are unwilling to believe what may be injurious; but now I feel it, and, in spite even of love and myself, must believe. Often have I lied to myself for your sake; often flattered myself that the raging south winds would drive hither your swelling sails. In my resentment I have cursed Theseus, imagining that he would not suffer you to depart; yet he perhaps was no cause of your stay. Sometimes I dreaded that, in making towards the shallows of Hebrus, your ship might have been swallowed up by the foaming deep. Oft before the altars with offerings of incense have I, in a suppliant manner, implored the gods for your safety, O perfidious man! Oft seeing the winds favorable, the heaven serene, and the sea calm; Surely, said I to myself, if alive, he will come. In fine, my indulgent love represented to me all the obstacles that might prevent a speedy return; and I became ingenious at finding out excuses for you. But still you linger: the gods whom you invoked have not restored you to me; nor, moved by a sense of my love, do you return. O Demophoön, you have given both your words and sails to the winds. Your sails, alas! have failed to bring you back, and your words were insincere. What have I done, unless perhaps I have loved you to excess? But surely this crime might have rather endeared me to you. My only fault is, to have loved and entertained you, faithless man: yet this fault with you ought to be a merit. Where is now your honor? where are your oaths, and plighted troth? where are the many gods who dwelt on your perjured tongue? Where is now your matrimonial vow of constancy, which was to me the pledge and security of my phasing conjugal hopes? You swore by the tempest-beaten main, which before you had often crossed, and on which you were again to hazard yourself; you swore too by your grandsire (if he also is not falsely called so) who soothes the boisterous waves; by Venus doubly armed with her torch and bow, too successful, alas! with both against me; by Juno, who presides over the marriage-bed, and the sacred mysteries of the torch-bearing goddess. If each of these wronged powers should be disposed to take vengeance for the dishonor of invoking them falsely, you alone would be insufficient for the deserved punishment. Fool that I was! I even repaired your leaky ships, that you might have a trusty fleet wherein to desert me; I supplied you also with rowers to help forward your flight. Wretched beyond expression, to be thus wounded by my own darts! Alas! I foolishly gave credit to your deluding words, of which you have such command. I confided in your race and kindred gods; I trusted to your tears: are these too taught to dissemble? Yes; even they have their artifices, and often conspire to delude. In fine, I believed your false protestations. Why did you commit so many perjuries to gain credit with me, when unhappily I was too willing to trust you? Nor do I repent that I received you into my harbour and kingdom: this ought to have been the utmost bound of my indulgence. I am only ashamed of having crowned my hospiality with the present of my bed, and yielded myself up to your embraces. Oh! had the night preceding that fatal one been my last, Phyllis had died chaste and honest. I hoped the best, because I was conscious I deserved well of you. Hope, founded upon desert, is just and unblameable. Surely it is no mighty glory to deceive a credulous maid; my innocent simplicity merited a kind return. You have by your flattering words deluded a woman, and one that loved you. May the gods grant that this may be your greatest boast! May you stand in the midst of the city among the posterity of Ægeus! May the statue of your father graced with inscriptions and trophies stand first! When the stories of Scyron and stern Procrustes shall be read, Sinis, and the Minotaur; Thebes brought under subjection, the Centaurs dispersed, and the dark palace of the infernal god alarmed, may thy hated image bear this inscription: This is he, who betrayed his innocent believing hostess. Of all the mighty acts of your father, Ariadne deserted seems to please you most. You admire only in him what alone seems to want an excuse, and are the perfidious heir of your father's treachery. She (nor do I envy her) enjoys a better match, and rides in state, drawn by harnessed tigers. But the Thracian youths whom I scorned before, now shun my embraces, because I preferred a stranger to my own subjects. Some in derision say, Let her now repair to learned Athens; we will find another to rule over warlike Thrace: the end proves all things. May heaven deny him success in every thing, who presumes to judge of actions by the event: for, were your vessels to plough the Thracian waves, I should still be said to have studied my own and my people is good. But alas! I have consulted neither. You think no more of my palace, nor will you ever again bathe your wearied limbs in the Thracian lake. Our parting scene still presents itself to my fancy: your fleet being in readiness to sail, you embraced me, and, falling upon my neck, oft repeated the long-breathed kisses: you mixed your tears with mine, and complained that the wind was favorable; then parting, cried, Be sure, Phyllis, to expect your Demophoön. Can I expect one who left me never to return? Can I expect ships never designed to visit these coasts? And yet I still expect you; return, though late, that your only crime may be too long a stay. Unhappy Phyllis, what do you pray for? He perhaps is detained by another mistress, and a love that banishes all remembrance of thee. Alas! I fear that, since you left me, you have never once thought of Phyllis. Cruel fate! should you be at a loss to know who I Phyllis am, and whence; I: who admitted you, after a long course of wandering, into our Thracian harbours, and entertained you in so hospitable a manner; who increased your wealth from my own stock, supplied your wants by many gifts, and intended to have enriched you still more; who subjected to your rule the spacious kingdom of Lycurgus, too warlike and fierce to be awed by a female name; even from Rhodope covered with eternal snow, to shady Hæmus, and where gentle Hebrus rolls his sacred stream; on whom in an unlucky hour I bestowed my virgin love, and whom I suffered with treacherous hands to untie my chaste girdle. Doubtless Tisiphone howled over us in that fatal night, and the wandering owl complained in mournful notes. Alecto too was present, her hair wreathed with curling snakes; and lighted the tapers with infernal flame. Disconsolate, I tread the rocks and shore overgrown with shrubs, where-ever the wide sea lies open to my eyes. Whether by day, when earth relenting feels the genial heat, or by night when the stars shine, and cold damps fall, I am anxious in observing the course of the winds. If by chance I can espy and distant sail, forthwith I divine it to be my Demophoön. I run towards the shore whither the inconstant billows flow, and can scarcely be restrained even by the waves. The nearer they approach, the more my fears increase, till at last fainting away I am carried home by my train. Near my present abode is a bay, bent in the manner of a bow, whose sides running out into the sea form a precipice of rocks. Hence my despair has often urged me to throw myself headlong into the raging flood; and I am still resolved upon it, because you continue to deceive me. The friendly waves may perhaps waft me over to the Athenian shore, and my unburied remains may there meet your unexpecting eyes. Though more hard-hearted than iron or adamant, year even than yourself, you will in pity say; Alas! Phyllis, you ought not to have followed me thus. Oft I thirst after poisons; oft resolve to pierce my heart, and perish by a bloody death. Sometimes I think of tying a silken knot upon that neck, round which you have so often twined your treacherous arms. It is fixed; I must repair my ruined honor by a speedy death: when the mind is once determined, it is easy to choose the mode of dying. You shall be marked upon my tomb as the cruel cause of my death, and handed down to posterity in these or similar lines: Phyilis died by the cruelty of Demophoön; a faithful mistress by a perfidious guest. He was the barbarous cause; she herself gave the fatal blow. |
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Briseis Achilli Quam legis , a rapta Briseide littera venit , Vix bene barbarica Graeca notata manu . Quascumque adspicies , lacrimae fecere lituras ; Sed tamen et lacrimae pondera vocis habent . Si mihi pauca queri de te dominoque viroque Fas est , de domino pauca viroque querar . Non , ego poscenti quod sum cito tradita regi , Culpa tua est — quamvis haec quoque culpa tua est ; Nam simul Eurybates me Talthybiusque vocarunt , Eurybati data sum Talthybioque comes . Alter in alterius iactantes lumina vultum Quaerebant taciti , noster ubi esset amor . Differri potui ; poenae mora grata fuisset . Ei mihi ! discedens oscula nulla dedi ; At lacrimas sine fine dedi rupique capillos — Infelix iterum sum mihi visa capi ! Saepe ego decepto volui custode reverti , Sed , me qui timidam prenderet , hostis erat . Si progressa forem , caperer ne , nocte , timebam , Quamlibet ad Priami munus itura nurum . Sed data sim , quia danda fui — tot noctibus absum Nec repetor ; cessas , iraque lenta tua est . Ipse Menoetiades tum , cum tradebar , in aurem 'Quid fles ? hic parvo tempore ,' dixit , 'eris .' Nec repetisse parum ; pugnas ne reddar , Achille ! I nunc et cupidi nomen amantis habe ! Venerunt ad te Telamone et Amyntore nati — Ille gradu propior sanguinis , ille comes — Laertaque satus , per quos comitata redirem (auxerunt blandas grandia dona preces ) Viginti fulvos operoso ex aere lebetas , Et tripodas septem pondere et arte pares ; Addita sunt illis auri bis quinque talenta , Bis sex adsueti vincere semper equi , Quodque supervacuum est , forma praestante puellae Lesbides , eversa corpora capta domo , Cumque tot his — sed non opus est tibi coniuge — coniunx Ex Agamemnoniis una puella tribus . Si tibi ab Atride pretio redimenda fuissem , Quae dare debueras , accipere illa negas ! Qua merui culpa fieri tibi vilis , Achille ? Quo levis a nobis tam cito fugit amor ? An miseros tristis fortuna tenaciter urget , Nec venit inceptis mollior hora malis ? Diruta Marte tuo Lyrnesia moenia vidi — Et fueram patriae pars ego magna meae ; Vidi consortes pariter generisque necisque Tres cecidisse , quibus , quae mihi , mater erat ; Vidi , quantus erat , fusum tellure cruenta Pectora iactantem sanguinolenta virum . Tot tamen amissis te conpensavimus unum ; Tu dominus , tu vir , tu mihi frater eras . Tu mihi , iuratus per numina matris aquosae , Utile dicebas ipse fuisse capi — Scilicet ut , quamvis veniam dotata , repellas Et mecum fugias quae tibi dantur opes ! Quin etiam fama est , cum crastina fulserit Eos , Te dare nubiferis lintea velle Notis . Quod scelus ut pavidas miserae mihi contigit aures , Sanguinis atque animi pectus inane fuit . Ibis et — o miseram ! — cui me , violente , relinquis ? Quis mihi desertae mite levamen erit ? Devorer ante , precor , subito telluris hiatu Aut rutilo missi fulminis igne cremer , Quam sine me Pthiis canescant aequora remis , Et videam puppes ire relicta tuas ! Si tibi iam reditusque placent patriique Penates , Non ego sum classi sarcina magna tuae . Victorem captiva sequar , non nupta maritum ; Est mihi , quae lanas molliat , apta manus . Inter Achaeiadas longe pulcherrima matres In thalamos coniunx ibit eatque tuos , Digna nurus socero , Iovis Aeginaeque nepote , Cuique senex Nereus prosocer esse velit . Nos humiles famulaeque tuae data pensa trahemus , Et minuent plenas stamina nostra colos . Exagitet ne me tantum tua , deprecor , uxor — Quae mihi nescio quo non erit aequa modo — Neve meos coram scindi patiare capillos Et leviter dicas : 'haec quoque nostra fuit .' Vel patiare licet , dum ne contempta relinquar — Hic mihi vae ! miserae concutit ossa metus . Quid tamen expectas ? Agamemnona paenitet irae , Et iacet ante tuos Graecia maesta pedes . Vince animos iramque tuam , qui cetera vincis ! Quid lacerat Danaas inpiger Hector opes ? Arma cape , Aeacide , sed me tamen ante recepta , Et preme turbatos Marte favente viros ! Propter me mota est , propter me desinat ira , Simque ego tristitiae causa modusque tuae . Nec tibi turpe puta precibus succumbere nostris ; Coniugis Oenides versus in arma prece est . Res audita mihi , nota est tibi . fratribus orba Devovit nati spemque caputque parens . Bellum erat ; ille ferox positis secessit ab armis Et patriae rigida mente negavit opem . Sola virum coniunx flexit . felicior illa ! At mea pro nullo pondere verba cadunt . Nec tamen indignor nec me pro coniuge gessi Saepius in domini serva vocata torum . Me quaedam , memini , dominam captiva vocabat . 'Servitio ,' dixi , 'nominis addis onus .' Per tamen ossa viri subito male tecta sepulcro , Semper iudiciis ossa verenda meis ; Perque trium fortes animas , mea numina , fratrum , Qui bene pro patria cum patriaque iacent ; Perque tuum nostrumque caput , quae iunximus una , Perque tuos enses , cognita tela meis — Nulla Mycenaeum sociasse cubilia mecum Iuro ; fallentem deseruisse velis ! Si tibi nunc dicam , fortissime : 'tu quoque iura Nulla tibi sine me gaudia capta !' neges . At Danai maerere putant — tibi plectra moventur , Te tenet in tepido mollis amica sinu ! Et quisquam quaerit , quare pugnare recuses ? Pugna nocet , citharae voxque Venusque iuvant . Tutius est iacuisse toro , tenuisse puellam , Threiciam digitis increpuisse lyram , Quam manibus clipeos et acutae cuspidis hastam , Et galeam pressa sustinuisse coma . Sed tibi pro tutis insignia facta placebant , Partaque bellando gloria dulcis erat . An tantum dum me caperes , fera bella probabas , Cumque mea patria laus tua victa iacet ? Di melius ! validoque , precor , vibrata lacerto Transeat Hectoreum Pelias hasta latus ! Mittite me , Danai ! dominum legata rogabo Multaque mandatis oscula mixta feram . Plus ego quam Phoenix , plus quam facundus Ulixes , Plus ego quam Teucri , credite , frater agam . Est aliquid collum solitis tetigisse lacertis , Praesentisque oculos admonuisse sui . Sis licet inmitis matrisque ferocior undis , Ut taceam , lacrimis conminuere meis . Nunc quoque — sic omnes Peleus pater inpleat annos , Sic eat auspiciis Pyrrhus ad arma tuis ! — Respice sollicitam Briseida , fortis Achille , Nec miseram lenta ferreus ure mora ! Aut , si versus amor tuus est in taedia nostri , Quam sine te cogis vivere , coge mori ! Utque facis , coges . abiit corpusque colorque ; Sustinet hoc animae spes tamen una tui . Qua si destituor , repetam fratresque virumque — Nec tibi magnificum femina iussa mori . Cur autem iubeas ? stricto pete corpora ferro ; Est mihi qui fosso pectore sanguis eat . Me petat ille tuus , qui , si dea passa fuisset , Ensis in Atridae pectus iturus erat ! A , potius serves nostram , tua munera , vitam ! Quod dederas hosti victor , amica rogo . Perdere quos melius possis , Neptunia praebent Pergama ; materiam caedis ab hoste pete . Me modo , sive paras inpellere remige classem , Sive manes , domini iure venire iube !
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Briseis to Achilles THE letter which you now read in broken Greek, written by a foreign hand, comes from captive Briseis. Whatever blots you observe, were occasioned by my tears; but even tears are often more prevalent than words. If it may be allowed to complain a little of my lord and husband, I have a few causes of complaint against you, who are both. I do not blame you that I was so tamely delivered up to the king when demanded; and yet, even in that point, you are not altogether without blame: for no sooner was I demanded by Eurybates and Talthybius, than I was delivered up to be carried away by those military heralds. each regarding the other with a look of surprise, inquired in whispers, Where is their so famed love? I might have been detained somewhat longer; delay of miscry would have been grateful. Alas! when torn from you, I gave no parting kisses: but my tears flowed without ceasing; I tore my hair, and hapless seemed to myself, for the second time, a captive. I have often thought to deceive my keeper and escape, but trembled at the apprehension of falling into the hands of the enemy. I dreaded that, upon leaving the Grecian camp, I might again perhaps become a captive, and presented to some of the daughters-in-law of Priam. But I was delivered up, because so it must be. Though absent many nights, I am not demanded back. You linger, and are slow of resenting. Patroclus himself, when I was carried away, whispered in my ear, Why do you weep? your stay with Agamemnon will be very short. But your neglect of requiring me again from the hing is the least part of your crime; you even strive against my return. Weight now with yourself what right you have to the name of a lover. The sons of Telamon and Amyntor came ambassadors from Agamemnon; the first related to you by blood, the other your friend and guardian: the son also of Laertes came; by whom I might have returned attended. Softening entreaties were added to their costly presents,—twenty shining vessels curiously wrought in Corinthian brass, and seven tripods, alike in weight and workmanship. To these were added twice five talents of gold, and twelve spirited steeds. matchless in the race; and (what might have well been spared) Lesbian girls of exquisite beauty, captives of that pillaged island. With these (but what need of this?) you had the choice of one of Agamemnon's three daughters for a wife. You refused to accept me with gifts, which, had Agamemnon consented to my ransom, you ought with joy to have carried to him. What have I done thus to merit your neglect, Achilles? Whither has your changeable love so soon fled? Does cruel fortune incessantly pursue the wretched? Shall no propitious gales favour my chaste hopes? I saw the walls of Lyrnessus give way to your irresistible attack; nor was I an inconsiderable part of my native country. I saw three fall, brethren in blood as well as fate; who all sprang from the same mother. I saw my husband too stretched upon the bloody plain, and tossing with anguish his breast drenched in gore. Yet all these losses were recompensed in you alone; you were to me instead of a husband, a lord, a brother. You swore to me by the sacred deity of your sea-green mother, that it should be my happiness to have fallen a captive into your hands: for instance; to refuse me though offered to you with a large dowry, and reject the riches which you are urged to accept with me! It is even reported, that when returning Aurora gilds the mountains, you will open your flaxen sails to the cloud-bearing south winds. Soon as this cruel resolve reached my trembling ears, the blood forsook my breast; I was without life or soul. You will then abandon me! O barbarous man, what misery are you preparing for hapless Briseis! What solace can I expect in my forlorn state? Sooner may the gaping earth swallow me up, or the missile bolts of Jove overwhelm me, than I, abandoned, be doomed to behold the sea foaming after your Thessalian oars, and your ships deserting my distracted view. If you are determined to return, and visit again your native fields, I can be no very cumbersome load to your fleet. I submit to follow you as a captive subject to her conqueror, not as a spouse accompanying her husband. My hand will not disdain the meanest office. May the fairest of the Grecian dames become the happy partner of your bed, one worthy of such a father-in-law as the grandson of Jupiter and Ægina, to whom old Nereus will not disdain to be related. I her humble handmaid will diligently ply my task, and the twisted threads shall lessen the loaded distaff. Grant only that your wife, who I fear will regard me as a rival, be not suffered to treat me cruelly. Let her not tear my hair in your presence, while you unconcerned say, This girl was once dear to me. But I will submit to bear even this, rather than be left behind helpless and neglected. The dread of such treatment shakes my wretched frame. What can you wish for more? Agamemnon repents of his anger; and disconsolate Greece falls at your feet. You who are conqueror every where else, be master also of yourself and your passions. Why is insulting Hector allowed to triumph over the Grecian troops? Take arms, brave grandson of Æacus, after first receiving me to your embraces; and urge their vanquished troops with a victorious spear. Your resentment was first kindled for my sake; let it cease also for my sake: may I be both the cause and measure of your disgust. Nor think it dishonorable to yield to my entreaties. Meleager took up arms at the request of his wife. I have it only by hearsay; but you are acquainted with the whole story. Althæa's brothers being slain by her son, the unhappy parent devoted him with many imprecations. A war ensued: he, disgusted, laid down his arms, retired, and obstinately refused to assist his native country. His wife alone had power to move him: thrice happy she! But my words, alas! have no weight with you. Yet do I not repine; nor, though often called to my lord's bed, did I ever boast that I was your wife. One of the captives, I remember, called me mistress. You only increase, said I, the weight of my servitude by that name. I swear by the slightly-buried bones of my husband, those remains which must ever appear venerable to me; by the sacred ghosts of my three undaunted brothers, who bravely died for and with their country; by your lips and mine, which we have often joined in love; and by your conquering sword, too well known to my house; that Agamemnon has shared none of the joys of my bed. If I speak falsely, may I be eternally forsaken by you. Where I now to say, Do you too, great hero, swear that you have tasted no joys apart from me, must you not refuse? And yet the Greeks fancy you plunged in grief. You, mean-while, solace yourself with the harp, resigned to the soft embraces of a fond mistress. Should any one ask why you so obstinately refuse to fight, you say, War is become hateful; only night, love, and music, charm. It is safer to be content with domestic pleasures, to cherish a beloved mistress, and exercise the fingers upon a Thracian harp, than to grasp a target and sharp-pointed spear, and load the head with a weighty helmet. Heretofore you preferred the glory of illustrious actions to ease; and the fame acquired in war was all your aim. Could martial deeds then only please till I was made a captive? Is your thirst of praise extinguished in the fall of my country? Heaven forbid! May the Pelian spear, urged by your victorious arm, pierce the loins of Hector. Send me, O ye Greeks, as your ambassador, to solicit my lord: I will enforce your requests with a thousand melting kisses. Trust me, I can do more with him than Phœnix, more than the brother of Teucer, even more than eloquent Ulysses. There is rhetoric in throwing my once familiar arms round his neck, and putting him in mind that it is his Briseis who urges the request. Though you are cruel and more obdurate than the waves of the sea, my silence and tears must prevail. Now then (so may your father Peleus measure out his full term of years, and Pyrrhus enter upon war with your propitious fortune), brave Achilles, have respect to your Briseis, oppressed with a load of anxiety; nor kill her with your cruel delays. Or, if your former love is turned to disdain, rather hasten my fate, than force me thus to live without you. And even as it is, you hasten it; my beauty and bloom have fled; and the remaining faint hope of your love alone supports life: if this also should fail, my hard destiny will soon join me to the shades of my brothers and husband; nor will it add to your fame, to have occasioned the death of one who loved you. But why thus torment me by a lingering death? Plunge into my breast your naked poignard; I have still blood enough left to stream from the gaping wound. Let your sword, which (had not Minerva interposed) would have reached the heart of Atrides, find its way to mine. Ah rather preserve a life that is your own gift: I ask no more from my lover than what he formerly granted me when an enemy. The walls of Troy, built by Neptune, will afford more ample matter for your resentment. Hunt ruin in the hostile field. Let me only request, whatever be your design, whether to remain here, or navigate your fleet home, that, in right of master, you command me to attend you. |
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Phaedra Hippolyto Quam nisi tu dederis , caritura est ipsa , salutem Mittit Amazonio Cressa puella viro . Perlege , quodcumque est — quid epistula lecta nocebit ? Te quoque in hac aliquid quod iuvet esse potest ; His arcana notis terra pelagoque feruntur . Inspicit acceptas hostis ab hoste notas . Ter tecum conata loqui ter inutilis haesit Lingua , ter in primo restitit ore sonus . Qua licet et sequitur , pudor est miscendus amori ; Dicere quae puduit , scribere iussit amor . Quidquid Amor iussit , non est contemnere tutum ; Regnat et in dominos ius habet ille deos . Ille mihi primo dubitanti scribere dixit : 'Scribe ! dabit victas ferreus ille manus .' Adsit et , ut nostras avido fovet igne medullas , Figat sic animos in mea vota tuos ! Non ego nequitia socialia foedera rumpam ; Fama — velim quaeras — crimine nostra vacat . Venit amor gravius , quo serius — urimur intus ; Urimur , et caecum pectora vulnus habent . Scilicet ut teneros laedunt iuga prima iuvencos , Frenaque vix patitur de grege captus equus , Sic male vixque subit primos rude pectus amores , Sarcinaque haec animo non sedet apta meo . Ars fit , ubi a teneris crimen condiscitur annis ; Cui venit exacto tempore , peius amat . Tu nova servatae capies libamina famae , Et pariter nostrum fiet uterque nocens . Est aliquid , plenis pomaria carpere ramis , Et tenui primam delegere ungue rosam . Si tamen ille prior , quo me sine crimine gessi , Candor ab insolita labe notandus erat , At bene successit , digno quod adurimur igni ; Peius adulterio turpis adulter obest . Si mihi concedat Iuno fratremque virumque , Hippolytum videor praepositura Iovi ! Iam quoque — vix credes — ignotas mittor in artes ; Est mihi per saevas impetus ire feras . Iam mihi prima dea est arcu praesignis adunco Delia ; iudicium subsequor ipsa tuum . In nemus ire libet pressisque in retia cervis Hortari celeris per iuga summa canes , Aut tremulum excusso iaculum vibrare lacerto , Aut in graminea ponere corpus humo . Saepe iuvat versare leves in pulvere currus Torquentem frenis ora fugacis equi ; Nunc feror , ut Bacchi furiis Eleleides actae , Quaeque sub Idaeo tympana colle movent , Aut quas semideae Dryades Faunique bicornes Numine contactas attonuere suo . Namque mihi referunt , cum se furor ille remisit , Omnia ; me tacitam conscius urit amor . Forsitan hunc generis fato reddamus amorem , Et Venus ex tota gente tributa petat . Iuppiter Europen — prima est ea gentis origo — Dilexit , tauro dissimulante deum . Pasiphae mater , decepto subdita tauro , Enixa est utero crimen onusque suo . Perfidus Aegides , ducentia fila secutus , Curva meae fugit tecta sororis ope . En , ego nunc , ne forte parum Minoia credar , In socias leges ultima gentis eo ! Hoc quoque fatale est : placuit domus una duabus ; Me tua forma capit , capta parente soror . Thesides Theseusque duas rapuere sorores — Ponite de nostra bina tropaea domo ! Tempore quo nobis inita est Cerealis Eleusin , Gnosia me vellem detinuisset humus ! Tunc mihi praecipue (nec non tamen ante placebas ) Acer in extremis ossibus haesit amor . Candida vestis erat , praecincti flore capilli , Flava verecundus tinxerat ora rubor , Quemque vocant aliae vultum rigidumque trucemque , Pro rigido Phaedra iudice fortis erat . Sint procul a nobis iuvenes ut femina compti ! — Fine coli modico forma virilis amat . Te tuus iste rigor positique sine arte capilli Et levis egregio pulvis in ore decet . Sive ferocis equi luctantia colla recurvas , Exiguo flexos miror in orbe pedes ; Seu lentum valido torques hastile lacerto , Ora ferox in se versa lacertus habet , Sive tenes lato venabula cornea ferro . Denique nostra iuvat lumina , quidquid agis . Tu modo duritiam silvis depone iugosis ; Non sum militia digna perire tua . Quid iuvat incinctae studia exercere Dianae , Et Veneri numeros eripuisse suos ? Quod caret alterna requie , durabile non est ; Haec reparat vires fessaque membra novat . Arcus — et arma tuae tibi sunt imitanda Dianae — Si numquam cesses tendere , mollis erit . Clarus erat silvis Cephalus , multaeque per herbas Conciderant illo percutiente ferae ; Nec tamen Aurorae male se praebebat amandum . Ibat ad hunc sapiens a sene diva viro . Saepe sub ilicibus Venerem Cinyraque creatum Sustinuit positos quaelibet herba duos . Arsit et Oenides in Maenalia Atalanta ; Illa ferae spolium pignus amoris habet . Nos quoque quam primum turba numeremur in ista ! Si Venerem tollas , rustica silva tua est . Ipsa comes veniam , nec me latebrosa movebunt Saxa neque obliquo dente timendus aper . Aequora bina suis obpugnant fluctibus isthmon , Et tenuis tellus audit utrumque mare . Hic tecum Troezena colam , Pittheia regna ; Iam nunc est patria carior illa mea . Tempore abest aberitque diu Neptunius heros ; Illum Pirithoi detinet ora sui . Praeposuit Theseus — nisi si manifesta negamus — Pirithoum Phaedrae Pirithoumque tibi . Sola nec haec ad nos iniuria venit ab illo ; In magnis laesi rebus uterque sumus . Ossa mei fratris clava perfracta trinodi Sparsit humi ; soror est praeda relicta feris . Prima securigeras inter virtute puellas Te peperit , nati digna vigore parens ; Si quaeras , ubi sit — Theseus latus ense peregit , Nec tanto mater pignore tuta fuit . At ne nupta quidem taedaque accepta iugali — Cur , nisi ne caperes regna paterna nothus ? Addidit et fratres ex me tibi , quos tamen omnis Non ego tollendi causa , sed ille fuit . O utinam nocitura tibi , pulcherrime rerum , In medio nisu viscera rupta forent ! I nunc , sic meriti lectum reverere parentis — Quem fugit et factis abdicat ipse suis ! Nec , quia privigno videar coitura noverca , Terruerint animos nomina vana tuos . Ista vetus pietas , aevo moritura futuro , Rustica Saturno regna tenente fuit . Iuppiter esse pium statuit , quodcumque iuvaret , Et fas omne facit fratre marita soror . Illa coit firma generis iunctura catena , Inposuit nodos cui Venus ipsa suos . Nec labor est celare , licet peccemus , amorem . Cognato poterit nomine culpa tegi . Viderit amplexos aliquis , laudabimur ambo ; Dicar privigno fida noverca meo . Non tibi per tenebras duri reseranda mariti Ianua , non custos decipiendus erit ; Ut tenuit domus una duos , domus una tenebit ; Oscula aperta dabas , oscula aperta dabis ; Tutus eris mecum laudemque merebere culpa , Tu licet in lecto conspiciare meo . Tolle moras tantum properataque foedera iunge — Qui mihi nunc saevit , sic tibi parcat Amor ! Non ego dedignor supplex humilisque precari . Heu ! ubi nunc fastus altaque verba iacent ? Et pugnare diu nec me submittere culpae Certa fui — certi siquid haberet amor ; Victa precor genibusque tuis regalia tendo Bracchia ! quid deceat , non videt ullus amans . Depudui , profugusque pudor sua signa reliquit . Da veniam fasse duraque corda doma ! Quod mihi sit genitor , qui possidet aequora , Minos , Quod veniant proavi fulmina torta manu , Quod sit avus radiis frontem vallatus acutis , Purpureo tepidum qui movet axe diem — Nobilitas sub amore iacet ! miserere priorum Et , mihi si non vis parcere , parce meis ! Est mihi dotalis tellus Iovis insula , Crete — Serviat Hippolyto regia tota meo ! Flecte , ferox , animos ! potuit corrumpere taurum Mater ; eris tauro saevior ipse truci ? Per Venerem , parcas , oro , quae plurima mecum est ! Sic numquam , quae te spernere possit , ames ; Sic tibi secretis agilis dea saltibus adsit , Silvaque perdendas praebeat alta feras ; Sic faveant Satyri montanaque numina Panes , Et cadat adversa cuspide fossus aper ; Sic tibi dent Nymphae , quamvis odisse puellas Diceris , arentem quae levet unda sitim ! Addimus his precibus lacrimas quoque ; verba precantis Qui legis , et lacrimas finge videre meas !
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Phaedra to Hippolytus Phædra of Crete wishes to Hippolytus, born of an Amazon, that health. which, if he will not give it, she herself must want. Read this at least; how can the reading of a letter hurt you? Perhaps, too, you may meet with some things in it that will be agreeable. In this manner secrets are conveyed over land and sea. Even enemies look at the letters sent from each other. Thrice I essayed to speak with you; thrice my tongue failed; thrice the words forsook me at my tongue's end. Modesty is to be joined with love, as far as is possible and convenient. Love commands me to write what I was ashamed to speak. It is not safe to slight the commands of Love; he reigns uncontrolled, and has power even over the sovereign gods. He first commanded me, when full of doubts and fears, to write; Write, said he; though hard as steel, he will yield his captive hands. Be present, Love; and, as you nourish in my bones a wasting fire, fix also in his breast a dart that may soften it towards me. Yet will I not by any crime stain my connubial vows. My fame (search into it) you will find fair and spotless. Love, the later it seizes us, rages the more. I burn inwardly; I burn, and my breast feels the hidden wound. As the tender bull is at first impatient of the yoke, and the young courser is with difficulty rendered obedient to the rein: so my unconquered heart resists the first attacks of love, and this unusual burthen sits heavy on my unpractised mind. When love is habitual from our cradle, we may learn by art to manage it; but, in our riper years, it assaults us with violence. You will taste the first offerings of my spotless fame, and the guilt will be the same in both. There is a pleasure in plucking the ripe apples from loaded branches, and gathering with an industrious hand the earliest roses. If yet my chastity, hitherto unstained, must be blotted by an unusual crime, it has happily fallen out that I burn with a noble flame. A worthless partner of my crime, something still worse than the crime itself, cannot in my case by objected. If Juno should resign her brother and husband in my favour, even Jupiter would probably be disregarded in competition with Hippolytus. And now (what you will scarcely believe) my inclinations carry me after new and unaccustomed delights. I long to assault with you the savage breed; already the Delian goddess, distinguished by the crooked bow, presides in my thoughts; your judgement in this determines also mine. I am impatient to range the woods, to pursue the stage into the toils, and cheer the nimble hounds along the rocky cliffs; or lance the trembling dart with a vigorous arm, and stretch my wearied limbs on a grassy bank. Oft I am pleased to drive the nimble chariot involved in dust, and guide the panting steeds with steady rein. Now wild, I rave as a Bacchanal when full of the inspiring god, or like those who on the Idean hill urge with redoubled strokes the sounding brass; yea more wild than those whom the Dryads half divine, and horned Satyrs, strike with terror and amazement. For, when this fury abates, I am informed of all; and silent feel that conscious love rages in my breast. Perhaps, I am urged to this love by the fate of my blood, and Venus exacts this tribute of all our race. Jupiter loved Europa (hence the first rise of our family) disguising the god under the form of a bull. Pasiphae my mother, enjoyed by a deluded bull, was in time delivered of her guilty load. Perfidious Theseus, guided by the faithful thread, escaped by my sister's help the deluding labyrinth. Lo, I too, that I might not belie the race of Minos, yield the last to the powerful laws of my blood. Surely it was our destiny; one house gained the inclinations of both. I am charmed with your shape and appearance; my sister yielded to the attractions of your father. Theseus and his son have triumphed over two sister nymphs. Raise trophies of your victory over our race. Oh how I wish that I had been wandering in the fields of Crete, when first I saw you enter Eleusis, the city of Ceres! It was then chiefly (yet even before that time you had charmed me), that the penetrating flame of love raged in my bones. White was your robe; your hair was adorned with a garland; a modest blush had overspread your comely face. That countenance which appears, to others, stern and fierce, was in Phædra's eyes noble and full of manly courage. I hate youths fond of dress and a female nicety: a manly form requires little fashioning. That sternness, those careless locks, and noble face stained with dust, are becoming. Whether you bend in the fiery steed's reluctant neck, I am delighted to see him wheeling in the narrow ring; or if with vigorous arm you dart the heavy spear, still my eyes watch the manly throw. Or do you brandish the hunting-spear of broad-pointed steel? In fine, every thing you do gives me delight. Leave your cruelty to the woods and mountains; nor let me, undeserving of such a fate, perish for your sake. What pleasure can it give to be wholly taken up in the exercises of Diana, and deny Venus the vows and engagements due to her? What admits no interval of rest cannot subsist long. Rest renews our strength, and refreshes our wearied limbs. The bow (and surely the arms of your favorite goddess may furnish an example for your imitation), if always bent, will lose its force. Cephalus was famed in the woods; by his hand were many wild beasts slain; yet he was no enemy to the delights of love. Aurora wisely forsook old age for him. Oft, under a spreading oak, were Venus and Adonis seated on the yielding grass. Meleager too burned for Areadian Atalanta: she, as a pledge of his love, enjoyed the spoils of the Calydonian boar. Let us also be now first joined to this glorious crowd. If you banish love, the forest will be turned into a desert. I will be the partner of your toils: neither the rocks hideous with dens and caves, nor the fierce aspect of the threatening boar, shall terrify me. There is an isthmus seated between two seas; the rising billows beat against either shore. Here will I meet thee at Trœzen, once the kingdom of Pittheus: already it is dearer far than my native country. The hero of Neptune's race is happily absent, and will be so long: he is now in the country of his dear Pirithous. Theseus (unless we dispute what is manifest) prefers Pirithous, both to his Phædra and to thee: nor is this the only injury he has offered us; for we have both been wronged in matters of great importance. The bones of my brother, broken with a knotted club, he scattered on the bloody ground: my sister was left a prey to wild beasts. You boast of a mother worthy of the bravery of her son, of distinguished valor among the Amazonian maids. If you enquire after her, Theseus inhumanly stabbed her; nor could so great a pledge protect the unhappy mother. Nor was she wedded, nor received with the nuptial torch. Why all this, but to exclude you from your father's throne? He has added, moreover, brothers to you by me, who have been bred up by his command rather than mine. I could wish, loveliest of men, that the child who may stand in competition with you, had died in the birth. What reverence, after all this, can be due to your father's bed, which he even shuns himself, and has deserted? Nor let vain fears alarm you, that the commerce, between a son and mother-in-law, is infamous. This old-fashioned piety, which could not subsist long, suited only the rustic age of Saturn. Jupiter has made pleasure the test of piety, and has given us an example in espousing his own sister. That tie of blood is firmest, which is strengthened by the bonds of Venus. It will be an easy matter to conceal it: the name of relative will justify our freedoms. Whoever sees our mutual embraces will praise us; I shall be thought a stepmother, tender of my husband's son. No stubborn gates are to be forced open in the night; no watchful keeper to be deceived. One house served us both; one house will still serve us. You caressed me openly, and my do so still. Here you will be in safety; and our freedoms, far from exposing us to blame, will gain us praise. Only banish delay, and hasten to consummate our mutual loves; so may the tyrant that rages in my breast, prove gentle to you. I condescend to address you by prayers and entreaties; where is now my pride? where are my wonted boasts? I had resolved to hold out long, and not easily yield to a crime, if love were capable of any steady resolution. But, subdued by its power, I turn to prayers, and with my royal hands clasp your knees. Lovers, alas! are seldom awed by a sense of decency: shame and modesty have fled. Think favorably of my fond confession, and pity my sufferings. What though my father holds the empire of the seas, and my great grandsire darts the rapid thunder? What though my grandfather, crowned with pointed rays, guides the resplendent chariot of the day? Nobility gives place to love. Have some regard, however, for my race; and, if you undervalue me, yet shew respect to mine. The famous island of Crete falls by inheritance to me: here shall my Hippolytus reign supreme. Conquer that stubborn soul. My mother could even inspire a bull with love; and will you be more cruel than a fierce bull? Hear, then, for Venus' sake, who is all-powerful with me; so may you never love a scornful fair. So may swift Diana still attend you in the remote forests, and the woods offer you the best game. So may the Satyrs and mountain Gods protect you, and the boar fall, pierced by your quivering spear. So may the kind Nymphs (though you are said to hate the softer sex) allay with grateful streams your burning thirst. Many tears accompany these prayers; think, while you read over the words of your Phædra, that you see also the tears streaming from her eyes. |
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Oenone Paridi Nympha suo Paridi , quamvis suus esse recuset , Mittit ab Idaeis verba legenda iugis . Perlegis ? an coniunx prohibet nova ? perlege — non est Ista Mycenaea littera facta manu ! Pegasis Oenone , Phrygiis celeberrima silvis , Laesa queror de te , si sinis ipse , meo . Quis deus opposuit nostris sua numina votis ? Ne tua permaneam , quod mihi crimen obest ? Leniter , ex merito quidquid patiare , ferendum est ; Quae venit indigno poena , dolenda venit . Nondum tantus eras , cum te contenta marito Edita de magno flumine nympha fui . Qui nunc Priamides — absit reverentia vero ! — Servus eras ; servo nubere nympha tuli ! Saepe greges inter requievimus arbore tecti , Mixtaque cum foliis praebuit herba torum ; Saepe super stramen faenoque iacentibus alto Defensa est humili cana pruina casa . Quis tibi monstrabat saltus venatibus aptos , Et tegeret catulos qua fera rupe suos ? Retia saepe comes maculis distincta tetendi ; Saepe citos egi per iuga longa canes . Incisae servant a te mea nomina fagi , Et legor Oenone falce notata tua , Populus est , memini , fluviali consita rivo , Est in qua nostri littera scripta memor : Et quantum trunci , tantum mea nomina crescunt . Crescite et in titulos surgite recta meos ! Popule , vive , precor , quae consita margine ripae Hoc in rugoso cortice carmen habes : Cum Paris Oenone poterit spirare relicta , Ad fontem Xanthi versa recurret aqua . Xanthe , retro propera , versaeque recurrite lymphae ! Sustinet Oenonen deseruisse Paris . Illa dies fatum miserae mihi dixit , ab illa Pessima mutati coepit amoris hiemps , Qua Venus et Iuno sumptisque decentior armis Venit in arbitrium nuda Minerva tuum . Attoniti micuere sinus , gelidusque cucurrit , Ut mihi narrasti , dura per ossa tremor . Consului — neque enim modice terrebar — anusque Longaevosque senes . constitit esse nefas . Caesa abies , sectaeque trabes , et classe parata Caerula ceratas accipit unda rates . Flesti discedens — hoc saltim parce negare ! Miscuimus lacrimas maestus uterque suas ; Non sic adpositis vincitur vitibus ulmus , Ut tua sunt collo bracchia nexa meo . A ! quotiens , cum te vento quererere teneri , Riserunt comites — ille secundus erat ! Oscula dimissae quotiens repetita dedisti ! Quam vix sustinuit dicere lingua 'vale '! Aura levis rigido pendentia lintea malo Suscitat , et remis eruta canet aqua . Prosequor infelix oculis abeuntia vela , Qua licet , et lacrimis umet harena meis , Utque celer venias , virides Nereidas oro — Scilicet ut venias in mea damna celer ! Votis ergo meis alii rediture redisti ? Ei mihi , pro dira paelice blanda fui ! Adspicit inmensum moles nativa profundum — Mons fuit ; aequoreis illa resistit aquis . Hinc ego vela tuae cognovi prima carinae , Et mihi per fluctus impetus ire fuit . Dum moror , in summa fulsit mihi purpura prora — Pertimui ; cultus non erat ille tuus . Fit propior terrasque cita ratis attigit aura ; Femineas vidi corde tremente genas . Non satis id fuerat — quid enim furiosa morabar ? — Haerebat gremio turpis amica tuo ! Tunc vero rupique sinus et pectora planxi , Et secui madidas ungue rigente genas , Inplevique sacram querulis ululatibus Iden Illuc has lacrimas in mea saxa tuli . Sic Helene doleat defectaque coniuge ploret , Quaeque prior nobis intulit , ipsa ferat ! Nunc tibi conveniunt , quae te per aperta sequantur Aequora legitimos destituantque viros ; At cum pauper eras armentaque pastor agebas , Nulla nisi Oenone pauperis uxor erat . Non ego miror opes , nec me tua regia tangit Nec de tot Priami dicar ut una nurus — Non tamen ut Priamus nymphae socer esse recuset , Aut Hecubae fuerim dissimulanda nurus ; Dignaque sum fieri rerum matrona potentis ; Sunt mihi , quas possint sceptra decere , manus . Nec me , faginea quod tecum fronde iacebam , Despice ; purpureo sum magis apta toro . Denique tutus amor meus est ; ibi nulla parantur Bella , nec ultrices advehit unda rates . Tyndaris infestis fugitiva reposcitur armis ; Hac venit in thalamos dote superba tuos . Quae si sit Danais reddenda , vel Hectora fratrem , Vel cum Deiphobo Polydamanta roga ; Quid gravis Antenor , Priamus quid suadeat ipse , Consule , quis aetas longa magistra fuit ! Turpe rudimentum , patriae praeponere raptam . Causa pudenda tua est ; iusta vir arma movet . Nec tibi , si sapias , fidam promitte Lacaenam , Quae sit in amplexus tam cito versa tuos . Ut minor Atrides temerati foedera lecti Clamat et externo laesus amore dolet , Tu quoque clamabis . nulla reparabilis arte Laesa pudicitia est ; deperit illa semel . Ardet amore tui ? sic et Menelaon amavit . Nunc iacet in viduo credulus ille toro . Felix Andromache , certo bene nupta marito ! Uxor ad exemplum fratris habenda fui ; Tu levior foliis , tum cum sine pondere suci Mobilibus ventis arida facta volant ; Et minus est in te quam summa pondus arista , Quae levis adsiduis solibus usta riget . Hoc tua — nam recolo — quondam germana canebat , Sic mihi diffusis vaticinata comis : 'Quid facis , Oenone ? quid harenae semina mandas ? Non profecturis litora bubus aras . Graia iuvenca venit , quae te patriamque domumque Perdat ! io prohibe ! Graia iuvenca venit ! Dum licet , obscenam ponto demergite puppim ! Heu ! quantum Phrygii sanguinis illa vehit !' Vox erat in cursu : famulae rapuere furentem ; At mihi flaventes diriguere comae . A , nimium miserae vates mihi vera fuisti — Possidet , en , saltus illa iuvenca meos ! Sit facie quamvis insignis , adultera certe est ; Deseruit socios hospite capta deos . Illam de patria Theseus — nisi nomine fallor — Nescio quis Theseus abstulit ante sua . A iuvene et cupido credatur reddita virgo ? Unde hoc conpererim tam bene , quaeris ? amo . Vim licet appelles et culpam nomine veles ; Quae totiens rapta est , praebuit ipsa rapi . At manet Oenone fallenti casta marito — Et poteras falli legibus ipse tuis ! Me Satyri celeres — silvis ego tecta latebam — Quaesierunt rapido , turba proterva , pede Cornigerumque caput pinu praecinctus acuta Faunus in inmensis , qua tumet Ida , iugis . Me fide conspicuus Troiae munitor amavit , Admisitque meas ad sua dona manus . Quaecumque herba potens ad opem radixque medenti Utilis in toto nascitur orbe , mea est . Me miseram , quod amor non est medicabilis herbis ! Deficior prudens artis ab arte mea . Quod nec graminibus tellus fecunda creandis Nec deus , auxilium tu mihi ferre potes . Et potes , et merui — dignae miserere puellae ! Non ego cum Danais arma cruenta fero — Sed tua sum tecumque fui puerilibus annis Et tua , quod superest temporis , esse precor !
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Oenone to Paris MAY I hope that you will read this? Or, over-awed by your new bride, must you treat it with neglect? Read it over, I entreat you: it is no threatening letter sent you from Mycenæ. I, the Nymph Œnone, famous in the Phrygian woods, complain of injuries received from you, whom I am still fond to call mine, if you permit. What God opposes himself to my wishes? What crime have I committed, that I no longer possess your love? Where we suffer deservedly, we ought to bear it with patience; but unmerited calamities sit heavy upon us. You were yet in low circumstances, when I, a Nymph sprung from a mighty river, was contented to receive you for my husband. Thought now the son of Priam, (excuse my freedom,) you were then no more than a slave: nor did I disdain to wed you even in that meanest rank. Oft under the shade of a tree, have we quietly rested amidst the flocks, where the ground, strewn with leaves, afforded a pleasant couch. Oft in our Iowly cottage, secure from hail and freezing winds, have we contentedly reposed on straw or a bed of hay. Who shewed you the forests best stocked with game, or pointed out the rocky caverns where the savage dam concealed her young? A constant companion of your toils, I often spread the knotted net, and cheered your sweeping hounds along the mountain's brow. The beeches still preserve my name carved by your hand; and ' Œnone,' the work of your pruning-knife, is read upon their bark; and, as the trunks increase, the letters still dilate. Grow on, and rise as testimonies of my just claim. There grows a poplar (I remember it) by the river's side, on which is carved the motto of our love. Flourish. thou poplar, fed by the bordering stream, whose furrowed bark bears this inscription: Sooner shall Xanthus hasten back to his source, than Paris be able to live without his Œnone. Xanthus, flow backward; backward flow, ye streams! Paris still lives, though faithless to his Œnone. My misfortunes began from that unhappy day, in which Venus, Juno, and Minerva (most graceful when clad in shining armor) appointed you judge of the prize of beauty. It was then that a black storm overcast my former peace. My heart failed while you repeated the fatal tale, and a cold trembling shot through all my bones. I acquainted the aged matrons and sages with my just fears; and they all agreed that some misfortune was approaching. Trees are cut down, ships are built; and the sea-green waves bear up your well-appointed fleet. When about to depart, you melted into tears; this at least you need not be ashamed to own; the present love is far more guilty than the past. You wept, and witnessed my melting grief; the mingled tears spoke our mutual sadness. You clasped your arms round my neck, more closely than the curling vines embrace the towering elm. How did your companions smile, when you complained of the unfriendly winds! They favored; but love detained you. How often at parting did you repeat the ardent kisses; while your tongue was scarcely able to utter a last farewell! A propitious gale swells your sails bellying from the rigid masts; and the sea foams after the repeated strokes of the oars. Hapless, I pursue with my eyes the lessening canvass, and water the sands with my tears. I implore the Nereids for your speedy return; a speedy return indeed to my sorrow. Have then my prayers brought you back only for the sake of another, and have I solicited the Gods in behalf of an injurious harlot? A high rock formed by nature overlooks the boundless sea. This precipice opposes itself to the beating waves. Hence I first espied your swelling sails, and hardly could forbear plunging into the deep. As I waited with impatience for your arrival, I discerned upon the deck a purple garment; this made me tremble, as I well knew that it was not your dress. The ship approached, and, urged by a favorable gale, reached the land; when with a throbbing heart I espied my hated rival, whose head even (why delayed I to leap into the sea?) rested upon your bosom. At this I tore my hair and beat my breast, and, urged by despair, scratched my face with my inhuman nails. Ida's sacred groves resounded with my mournful complaints; and hence I bore them to those caves which were conscious of our former love. So may Helen also complain, and mourn like me a faithless spouse; may she too taste of those sorrows, which on her account I now so severely feel. You are at present charmed with one who forsakes her lawful husband, and follows you over the wide sea. But when, a poor shepherd, you attended your little flock, Œnone alone made you an offer of her bed. I have no eye to your riches, nor am I moved by your stately palace. I have no ambition to be numbered among the daughters of potent Priam. Yet Priam needs not to be ashamed of owning himself the father-in-law of a Nymph; nor needs Hecuba disscmble that I am her daughter. I merit, and wish to become the consort of a powerful prince; nor would a regal sceptre ill become my hands. It is no dishonor to have lain with you upon the new-fallen leaves; I am the more fit to ascend a bed of state. Add that you are safe in my love; no wars threaten you; no revengeful ships plough the waves. Fugitive Helen is demanded back by hostile arms, and sees with pride that a war must be her dowry. Ask of Hector your brother, Polydamas, or Deiphobus, whether she ought to be restored. Consult with sage Antenor, and your aged sire Priam, whom years and long experience have taught wisdom. It is scandalous to prefer a mistress to your native country. You engage in a shameful cause: her husband raises a just war against you. Nor flatter yourself that this Lacedæmonian will long prove constant, she who was so easily enticed to your embraces. As young Atrides complains of his dishonored bed, and mourns the injury done to him by a foreign love; so shall you lament in your turn. Chastity, when once sullied, can never be recovered; one false step ruins it for ever. She now burns for you. Thus she once loved Menelaus. He, too easy of belief, lies now in a forlorn bed. Happy Andromache, the worthy consort of a faithful spouse! My fidelity merited a like return from you. You are lighter than withered leaves driven by the inconstant winds, or than stalks of wheat parched by the continual heat of the sun. Heretofore your sister (now I recollect) forewarned me of all, and, with her hair disheveled, thus prophesied my approaching fate: What is it you hope for, Œnone? Why bury you thus your seed in the sand? Why plough you up the shore with unprofitable steers? The Grecian heifer comes, fatal to you, to Troy, and our ancient house. She comes. Forbid it Heaven; and now, while it may be done, overwhelm the guilty ship. Alas! how is she fraught with Phrygian blood! She said: her servants carried her off full of the God. My hair was erect with fear. Ah, you too truly foretold my wretched fate! This heifer now feeds in my lawns. Though fair to look upon, she is yet a prostitute, whom strangers have easily enticed from her native home. Thus Theseus (if I do not mistake the name), one Theseus, formerly made her a prize. It is likely, no doubt, that she was restored safe and untouched by a youth passionate and fond. If you wonder how I obtained a knowlege of this story, I answer, that I love. You may call it violence, and think to hide her fault by a specious name: it is evident that one who has been carried off so often, must have contrived the rape. But Œnone continues faithful to a perjured spouse; and yet I might have returned the injury in kind. I was pursued by the Satyrs, a lustful crew, and, to escape their violence, concealed myself in the woods. Fauns too, adorned with garlands of pine-leaves, traced me over Ida's swelling summits. Phœbus, the guardian god of Troy, obtained at last, by violence, what others had struggled for in vain. I tore his hair, and left on his face the marks of my rage. Yet I desired no sordid recompence of jewels or gold, nor would meanly prostitute my free charms for hire. He thought me worthy to be intrusted with the healing art, and rewarded me with the same knowlege for which he is himself so famed. My skill reaches to every herb and healing root which the fertile carth produces. But, unhappy that I am! my art avails not to my own cure; nor are herbs sufficient to heal the wounds of love. Even Phœbus, the founder of our art, fed (we are told) the herds of Admetus; nor could he withstand the pointed flames. Not heaven, nor earth with all its bounteous store, can ease my pain; it is from you alone that I expect relief. Paris can relieve; and I have deserved it. Pity a maid who merits and loves you. My alliance will bring upon you no dangerous bloody wars. I am yours, and with you innocently passed my infant years: Heaven grant that what yet remains of life may be also spent with you! |
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Hypsipyle Iasoni Lemnias Hypsipyle, Bacchi genus , Aesone nato Dicit , et in verbis pars quta mentis erat : Litora Thessaliae reduci tetigisse carina Diceris auratae vellere dives ovis . Gratulor incolumi , quantum sinis ; hoc tamen ipsum Debueram scripto certior esse tuo . Nam ne pacta tibi praeter mea regna redires , Cum cuperes , ventos non habuisse potes ; Quamlibet adverso signatur epistula vento . Hypsipyle missa digna salute fui . Cur mihi fama prior de te quam littera venit : Isse sacros Marti sub iuga panda boves , Seminibus iactis segetes adolesse virorum Inque necem dextra non eguisse tua , Pervigilem spolium pecudis servasse draconem , Rapta tamen forti vellera fulva manu ? O ego , si possem timide credentibus ista 'Ipse mihi scripsit ' dicere , quanta forem ! Quid queror officium lenti cessasse mariti ? Obsequium , maneo si tua , grande tuli ! Barbara narratur venisse venefica tecum , In mihi promissi parte recepta tori . Credula res amor est ; utinam temeraria dicar Criminibus falsis insimulasse virum ! Nuper ab Haemoniis hospes mihi Thessalus oris Venit et , ut tactum vix bene limen erat , 'Aesonides ,' dixi , 'quid agit meus ?' ille pudore Haesit in opposita lumina fixus humo . Protinus exilui tunicisque a pectore ruptis 'Vivit ? an ,' exclamo , 'me quoque fata vocant ?' 'Vivit ,' ait . timidum quod amat ; iurare coegi . Vix mihi teste deo credita vita tua est . Utque animus rediit , tua facta requirere coepi . Narrat aenipedes Martis arasse boves , Vipereos dentes in humum pro semine iactos , Et subito natos arma tulisse viros — Terrigenas populos civili Marte peremptos Inplesse aetatis fata diurna suae . Devictus serpens . iterum , si vivat Iason , Quaerimus ; alternant spesque timorque vicem . Singula dum narrat , studio cursuque loquendi Detegit ingenio vulnera nostra suo . Heu ! ubi pacta fides ? ubi conubialia iura Faxque sub arsuros dignior ire rogos ? Non ego sum furto tibi cognita ; pronuba Iuno Adfuit et sertis tempora vinctus Hymen . At mihi nec Iuno , nec Hymen , sed tristis Erinys Praetulit infaustas sanguinolenta faces . Quid mihi cum Minyis , quid cum Dodonide pinu ? Quid tibi cum patria , navita Tiphy , mea ? Non erat hic aries villo spectabilis aureo , Nec senis Aeetae regia Lemnos erat . Certa fui primo (sed me mala fata trahebant ) Hospita feminea pellere castra manu ; Lemniadesque viros , nimium quoque , vincere norunt . Milite tam forti terra tuenda fuit ! Urbe virum iuvi , tectoque animoque recepi ! Hic tibi bisque aestas bisque cucurrit hiemps . Tertia messis erat , cum tu dare vela coactus Inplesti lacrimis talia verba suis : 'Abstrahor , Hypsipyle ; sed dent modo fata recursus , Vir tuus hinc abeo , vir tibi semper ero . Quod tamen e nobis gravida celatur in alvo , Vivat , et eiusdem simus uterque parens !' Hactenus , et lacrimis in falsa cadentibus ora Cetera te memini non potuisse loqui . Ultimus e sociis sacram conscendis in Argo . Illa volat ; ventus concava vela tenet ; Caerula propulsae subducitur unda carinae ; Terra tibi , nobis adspiciuntur aquae . In latus omne patens turris circumspicit undas ; Huc feror , et lacrimis osque sinusque madent . Per lacrimas specto , cupidaeque faventia menti Longius adsueto lumina nostra vident . Adde preces castas inmixtaque vota timori — Nunc quoque te salvo persoluenda mihi . Vota ego persolvam ? votis Medea fruetur ! Cor dolet , atque ira mixtus abundat amor . Dona feram templis , vivum quod Iasona perdo ? Hostia pro damnis concidat icta meis ? Non equidem secura fui semperque verebar , Ne pater Argolica sumeret urbe nurum . Argolidas timui — nocuit mihi barbara paelex ! Non expectata vulnus ab hoste tuli . Nec facie meritisque placet , sed carmina novit Diraque cantata pabula falce metit . Illa reluctantem cursu deducere lunam Nititur et tenebris abdere solis equos ; Illa refrenat aquas obliquaque flumina sistit ; Illa loco silvas vivaque saxa movet . Per tumulos errat passis discincta capillis Certaque de tepidis colligit ossa rogis . Devovet absentis simulacraque cerea figit , Et miserum tenuis in iecur urget acus — Et quae nescierim melius . male quaeritur herbis Moribus et forma conciliandus amor . Hanc potes amplecti thalamoque relictus in uno Inpavidus somno nocte silente frui ? Scilicet ut tauros , ita te iuga ferre coegit Quaque feros anguis , te quoque mulcet ope . Adde , quod adscribi factis procerumque tuisque Sese avet , et titulo coniugis uxor obest . Atque aliquis Peliae de partibus acta venenis Inputat et populum , qui sibi credat , habet : 'Non haec Aesonides , sed Phasias Aeetine Aurea Phrixeae terga revellit ovis .' Non probat Alcimede mater tua — consule matrem — Non pater , a gelido cui venit axe nurus . Illa sibi a Tanai Scythiaeque paludibus udae Quaerat et a ripa Phasidos usque virum ! Mobilis Aesonide vernaque incertior aura , Cur tua polliciti pondere verba carent ? Vir meus hinc ieras : cur non meus inde redisti ? Sim reducis coniunx , sicut euntis eram ! Si te nobilitas generosaque nomina tangunt — En , ego Minoo nata Thoante feror ! Bacchus avus ; Bacchi coniunx redimita corona Praeradiat stellis signa minora suis . Dos tibi Lemnos erit , terra ingeniosa colenti ; Me quoque dotalis inter habere potes . Nunc etiam peperi ; gratare ambobus , Iason ! Dulce mihi gravidae fecerat auctor onus . Felix in numero quoque sum prolemque gemellam , Pignora Lucina bina favente dedi . Si quaeris , cui sint similes , cognosceris illis . Fallere non norunt ; cetera patris habent . Legatos quos paene dedi pro matre ferendos ; Sed tenuit coeptas saeva noverca vias . Medeam timui : plus est Medea noverca ; Medeae faciunt ad scelus omne manus . Spargere quae fratris potuit lacerata per agros Corpora , pignoribus parceret illa meis ? Hanc tamen o demens Colchisque ablate venenis , Diceris Hypsipyles praeposuisse toro . Turpiter illa virum cognovit adultera virgo ; Me tibi teque mihi taeda pudica dedit . Prodidit illa patrem ; rapui de clade Thoanta . Deseruit Colchos ; me mea Lemnos habet . Quid refert , scelerata piam si vincet et ipso Crimine dotata est emeruitque virum ? Lemniadum facinus culpo , non miror , Iason ; Quamlibet ignavis iste dat arma dolor . Dic age , si ventis , ut oportuit , actus iniquis Intrasses portus tuque comesque meos , Obviaque exissem fetu comitante gemello — Hiscere nempe tibi terra roganda fuit ! — Quo vultu natos , quo me , scelerate , videres ? Perfidiae pretio qua nece dignus eras ? Ipse quidem per me tutus sospesque fuisses — Non quia tu dignus , sed quia mitis ego . Paelicis ipsa meos inplessem sanguine vultus , Quosque veneficiis abstulit illa suis ! Medeae Medea forem ! quodsi quid ab alto Iustus adest votis Iuppiter ille meis , Quod gemit Hypsipyle , lecti quoque subnuba nostri Maereat et leges sentiat ipsa suas ; Utque ego destituor coniunx materque duorum , A totidem natis orba sit illa viro ! Nec male parta diu teneat peiusque relinquat — Exulet et toto quaerat in orbe fugam ! Quam fratri germana fuit miseroque parenti Filia , tam natis , tam sit acerba viro ! Cum mare , cum terras consumpserit , aera temptet ; Erret inops , exspes , caede cruenta sua ! Haec ego , coniugio fraudata Thoantias oro . Vivite , devoto nuptaque virque toro !
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Hypsipyle to Jason You are said to have reached the Thessalian coasts in your returning bark, enriched with the prize of the golden fleece. I congratulate your safety, as far as I am permitted: but I ought to have known this by a letter from yourself. For, though unfavorable winds might have hindered you from landing in my kingdom, had you even desired it, yet a letter might have been sealed and sent: surely Hypsipyle deserved this testimony of your love. Why as fame the first messenger of your success? Why did I first hear from report, that the bulls sacred to the stern god of war had submitted to the yoke,—that harvests of armed men sprang from the sowing of the dragon's teeth, and did not want your right hand to cut them off,—that the yellow fleecy spoils, though guarded by a vigilant dragon, were yet a prey to your valiant arm? If I could assure those who believe with diffidence, that all this was confirmed to me by a letter from yourself, how great would be my happiness! Why do I complain that my husband by so long an absence has failed in the respect he owes me? If your heart continues mine, I have still all I ask. You are said to have brought with you a barbarian enchantress, and admitted her to a share of that bed which you had promised to me. Love is credulous and full of fears. I wish it may be found that I have rashly charged my husband with false crimes. A stranger lately arrived here from Thessaly: scarcely had he touched the threshold, when I enquired how my Jason was. He, overcome with shame, stood silent, and fixed his eyes upon the ground. Impatient, I ran up to him; and in wild distraction tearing his coat from his breast, Tell me, I cried, does he still live, or has Fate determined also to end my days? He lives, said he. I forced the intimidated stranger to confirm the statement by an oath, and could scarcely be convinced of your existence even by the testimony of a God. After recovering from my surprise, I began to enquire of your exploits. He tells me how the brazen-footed bulls of Mars turned up the furrowed plain; that the teeth of the dragon were thrown into the earth for seed, and a sudden crop of armed men sprang up; and that these earth-born heroes, cut off by civil broils, had filled up the short span of life allotted to them by Fate. Upon hearing of the serpent overcome. I again asked if Jason still lived; my heart beating alternately with hope and fear. While he proceeds in recounting one thing after another, in the current of his discourse, he at last discovers the wounds made in your heart. Alas! where is now your promised faith? where are now the nuptial ties? and Hymen's torch, fitter to have lighted up my funeral pile? I was not known to you by stealth. Juno was witness to our vows; and Hymen also, having his temples bound with garlands. But neither Juno nor Hymen, but cruel Erinnys, bore in procession the inauspicious torch. What concern had I with the Argonauts? what with the ship of Pallas? Why did your pilot Tiphys think of touching at this coast? Here was no ram to entice you by his golden spoils; nor had Æetes his royal palace at Lemnos. I had determined (but my unhappy destiny overruled me) to expel the strangers with a female band. The Lemnian ladies have too glaringly shown themselves an overmatch for men. My life and peace ought to have been defended by so trusty a band. I allowed Jason to enter my city, and admitted him into my house and heart. Here two summers and two winters rolled away. It was now the third harvest, when, forced to unfold the spreading sails, with tears in your eyes you uttered these soft and tender words. "Alas! I am torn from you, Hypsipyle; but, if Heaven grant me a safe return, as I depart thine, so will I ever remain thine, Let the pledge of our mutual love, that you now carry about in your teeming womb, be fondly cherished, that it may prove the joy and blessing of its parents." Thus far you spoke, while, the tears trickling down you deceitful checks, grief deprived you of the power to proceed. You were the last to ascend the sacred ship: she flies, and a favorable wind fills the swelling sails. The sea-green waves recede from before the stemming prow; your eyes are fixed upon the shore, while mine follow you through the deep. An adjacent tower opens a prospect on all sides towards the sea. Thither I bend my course, my face and bosom bedewed with tears. I view you through my tears; and my eyes, favoring the eagerness of my mind, carry forward my sight beyond its usual bounds. I address Heaven with chaste prayers and timorous vows,—vows to the performed, now that you are safe. Must I then pay vows for the triumphs of Medea? My heart yields to grief, and my love flames into rage. Shall I carry offerings to the temples, because Jason lives, and lives for another? Are victims to be slain in return for my disappointments? I was indeed always diffident, and dreaded that your father might choose a daughter-in-law from some city of Greece. I feared the Greeks, but suffer from a barbarian harlot, and am wounded by an unexpected hand. She has not charmed you by her beauty, or won you by her accomplishments. She holds you by her enchantments, and cuts the baneful herbs with a magic sickle. She endeavours to charm the reluctant moon from her orb, and involve the chariot of the sun in darkness. She bridles the waves, stops the winding currents, and removes from their seats the woods and banging rocks. She wanders through the tombs with her hair disheveled, and collects bones from the yet smoking pyres. Her witchcraft affects even the absent; she moulds the images of wax, and gores the wretched liver with torturing needles. Add a multiplicity of other magic artifices, which I am better unacquainted with. Love should be gained by merit and beauty, not by berbs and philtres. How can you receive her into your embraces, or quietly trust yourself in her treacherous arms? As formerly the bulls, so has she forced you also to submit to the yoke, and bound you with the same fetters wherewith she before chained the dragons. Add that she boasts of having contributed to your success, and that of your companions; and the fame of the wife eclipses that of the husband. Those of the Pelian faction ascribe all to sorcery; and the malicious world is too ready to believe them. "It was not Jason, ( say they,) but Medea of Colchis, that bore away the rich fleece of the consecrated ram." If you will be governed by the advice of a mother, she disapproves your choice; nor does your father relish a bride from the frozen zone. Let her seek a husband from the borders of the Tanais, the marshy fens of Scythia, or her native banks of Phasis. Inconstant Jason, More unstable than the vernal breeze; why are your words without their promised weight? You departed my husband, and return wedded to another. But, as I was your wife when we parted, let me be still the same since your return. If nobility and great names move you, I boast a descent from Thoas, the grandson of Minos. I have Bacchus for my grandfather; whose spouse, adorned with a radiant crown, eclipses the inferior lights by her more refulgent rays. Lemnos is my dowry, a fertile land, that crowns the labor of the cultivator. And I myself am not to be overlooked amidst so many noble gifts. I am also a mother, and bore the load with pleasure for the father's sake: let us both rejoice in this auspicious pledge. I am happy too in the number, and have brought forth twins, a double pledge of Lucina's favor. If you enquire concerning their likeness, you may be known by them: they are indeed strangers to treachery, but, in every thing else, the express image of their father. These had been sent envoys for their mother; but a cruel stepdame prevented the intended journey. I dreaded Medea; Medea is more cruel than even cruelty itself. Medea has hands ready for every kind of wickedness. Would she, who could scatter the dismembered joints of her own brother, scruple to imbue her hands in the blood of these innocent pledges of my love? And yet, O deluded man, intoxicated with the philtres of Colchis! this is the woman for whom you are said to have deserted Hypsipyle. She basely associated with the husband of another; we were chastely united by the hymeneal torch. She betrayed her father; I saved mine from destruction. She deserted her native land; I still remain at Lemnos. But what avails it, if her wickedness triumphs over my piety, and she gains the heart of her husband by her very crimes? Far from admiring the cruelty of the Lemnian ladies, I blame it, Jason; although indignation and resentment stirred them up to arms. Tell me, if, driven by inhospitable winds, you and your companion had entered my ports, and I, accompanied by my twin-offspring, had gone out to welcome you, would you not have wished the earth to open and swallow you up? With what face could you have beheld the harmless babes, and me your faithful wife? What punishment could have been inflicted upon you, equal to your perfidy and ingratitude? You would indeed have been safe and unhurt; not because you deserved it, but in consequence of my softness and good-nature. But I would have satiated my eyes with the blood of that harlot; and you, the slave of her sorceries, should have beheld the tragedy. I would have been Medea to Medea. If you, O just Jupiter, hear from heaven the prayers of injured love, may this base intruder into my chaste bed groan under the same pangs which I now feel, and herself experience that treachery of which she has set the first example; and, as I, a wife and the mother of twins, am left destitute and forlorn, may she also be ravished from her husband and children: may she soon lose and shamefully abandon these ill-gotten trophies; exiled, and wandering a fugitive over all the earth! What sister she was to her brother, what daughter to her parent, such a mother and wife may she prove to her children and husband! When she has traversed the earth and sea, let her attempt the air, till, destitute and hopeless, she end a miserable life by her own hand. These are the prayers of the disappointed and injured daughter of Thoas. May you live an execrable pair, the partners of a devoted bed! |
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Dido Aeneae Accipe , Dardanide, moriturae carmen Elissae; Quae legis , a nobis ultima verba legis : Sic ubi fata vocant , udis abiectus in herbis Ad vada Maeandri concinit albus olor . Nec quia te nostra sperem prece posse moveri , Adloquor — adverso movimus ista deo ; Sed merita et famam corpusque animumque pudicum Cum male perdiderim , perdere verba leve est . Certus es ire tamen miseramque relinquere Dido , Atque idem venti vela fidemque ferent ? Certus es , Aenea , cum foedere solvere naves , Quaeque ubi sint nescis , Itala regna sequi ? Nec nova Carthago , nec te crescentia tangunt Moenia nec sceptro tradita summa tuo ? Facta fugis , facienda petis ; quaerenda per orbem Altera , quaesita est altera terra tibi . Ut terram invenias , quis eam tibi tradet habendam ? Quis sua non notis arva tenenda dabit ? Scilicet alter amor tibi restat et altera Dido ; Quamque iterum fallas altera danda fides . Quando erit , ut condas instar Carthaginis urbem Et videas populos altus ab arce tuos ? Omnia ut eveniant , nec te tua vota morentur , Unde tibi , quae te sic amet , uxor erit ? Uror , ut inducto ceratae sulpure taedae , Ut pia fumosis addita tura focis . Aeneas oculis semper vigilantis inhaeret ; Aenean animo noxque quiesque refert . Ille quidem male gratus et ad mea munera surdus , Et quo , si non sim stulta , carere velim ; Non tamen Aenean , quamvis male cogitat , odi , Sed queror infidum questaque peius amo . Parce , Venus , nurui , durumque amplectere fratrem , Frater Amor , castris militet ille tuis ! Aut ego , quae coepi , (neque enim dedignor ) amorem , Materiam curae praebeat ille meae ! Fallor , et ista mihi falso iactatur imago ; Matris ab ingenio dissidet ille suae . Te lapis et montes innataque rupibus altis Robora , te saevae progenuere ferae , Aut mare , quale vides agitari nunc quoque ventis , Qua tamen adversis fluctibus ire paras . Quo fugis ? obstat hiemps . hiemis mihi gratia prosit ! Adspice , ut eversas concitet Eurus aquas ! Quod tibi malueram , sine me debere procellis ; Iustior est animo ventus et unda tuo . Non ego sum tanti — quid non censeris inique ? — Ut pereas , dum me per freta longa fugis . Exerces pretiosa odia et constantia magno , Si , dum me careas , est tibi vile mori . Iam venti ponent , strataque aequaliter unda Caeruleis Triton per mare curret equis . Tu quoque cum ventis utinam mutabilis esses ! Et , nisi duritia robora vincis , eris . Quid , quasi nescires , insana quid aequora possint , Expertae totiens tam male credis aquae ? Ut , pelago suadente viam , retinacula solvas , Multa tamen latus tristia pontus habet . Nec violasse fidem temptantibus aequora prodest ; Perfidiae poenas exigit ille locus , Praecipue cum laesus amor , quia mater Amorum Nuda Cytheriacis edita fertur aquis . Perdita ne perdam , timeo , noceamve nocenti , Neu bibat aequoreas naufragus hostis aquas . Vive , precor ! sic te melius quam funere perdam . Tu potius leti causa ferere mei . Finge , age , te rapido — nullum sit in omine pondus ! — Turbine deprendi ; quid tibi mentis erit ? Protinus occurrent falsae periuria linguae , Et Phrygia Dido fraude coacta mori ; Coniugis ante oculos deceptae stabit imago Tristis et effusis sanguinolenta comis . Quid tanti est ut tum 'merui ! concedite !' dicas , Quaeque cadent , in te fulmina missa putes ? Da breve saevitiae spatium pelagique tuaeque ; Grande morae pretium tuta futura via est . Haec minus ut cures , puero parcatur Iulo ! Te satis est titulum mortis habere meae . Quid puer Ascanius , quid di meruere Penates ? Ignibus ereptos obruet unda deos ? Sed neque fers tecum , nec , quae mihi , perfide , iactas , Presserunt umeros sacra paterque tuos . Omnia mentiris , neque enim tua fallere lingua Incipit a nobis , primaque plector ego . Si quaeras , ubi sit formosi mater Iuli — Occidit a duro sola relicta viro ! Haec mihi narraras — sat me monuere ! merentem Ure ; minor culpa poena futura mea est . Nec mihi mens dubia est , quin te tua numina damnent . Per mare , per terras septima iactat hiemps . Fluctibus eiectum tuta statione recepi Vixque bene audito nomine regna dedi . His tamen officiis utinam contenta fuissem , Et mihi concubitus fama sepulta foret ! Illa dies nocuit , qua nos declive sub antrum Caeruleus subitis conpulit imber aquis . Audieram vocem ; nymphas ululasse putavi — Eumenides fati signa dedere mei ! Exige , laese pudor , poenas ! violate Sychaei Ad quas , me miseram , plena pudoris eo . Est mihi marmorea sacratus in aede Sychaeus (Oppositae frondes velleraque alba tegunt ). Hinc ego me sensi noto quater ore citari ; Ipse sono tenui dixit 'Elissa , veni !' Nulla mora est , venio , venio tibi debita coniunx ; Sum tamen admissi tarda pudore mei . Da veniam culpae ! decepit idoneus auctor ; Invidiam noxae detrahit ille meae . Diva parens seniorque pater , pia sarcina nati , Spem mihi mansuri rite dedere viri . Si fuit errandum , causas habet error honestas ; Adde fidem , nulla parte pigendus erit . Durat in extremum vitaeque novissima nostrae Prosequitur fati , qui fuit ante , tenor . Occidit internas coniunx mactatus ad aras , Et sceleris tanti praemia frater habet ; Exul agor cineresque viri patriamque relinquo , Et feror in dubias hoste sequente vias . Adplicor his oris fratrique elapsa fretoque Quod tibi donavi , perfide , litus emo . Urbem constitui lateque patentia fixi Moenia finitimis invidiosa locis . Bella tument ; bellis peregrina et femina temptor , Vixque rudis portas urbis et arma paro . Mille procis placui , qui me coiere querentes Nescio quem thalamis praeposuisse suis . Quid dubitas vinctam Gaetulo tradere Iarbae ? Praebuerim sceleri bracchia nostra tuo . Est etiam frater , cuius manus inpia poscit Respergi nostro , sparsa cruore viri . Pone deos et quae tangendo sacra profanas ! Non bene caelestis inpia dextra colit . Si tu cultor eras elapsis igne futurus , Paenitet elapsos ignibus esse deos . Forsitan et gravidam Dido , scelerate , relinquas , Parsque tui lateat corpore clausa meo . Accedet fatis matris miserabilis infans , Et nondum nato funeris auctor eris , Cumque parente sua frater morietur Iuli , Poenaque conexos auferet una duos . 'Sed iubet ire deus .' vellem , vetuisset adire , Punica nec Teucris pressa fuisset humus ! Hoc duce nempe deo ventis agitaris iniquis Et teris in rabido tempora longa freto ? Pergama vix tanto tibi erant repetenda labore , Hectore si vivo quanta fuere forent . Non patrium Simoenta petis , sed Thybridis undas — Nempe ut pervenias , quo cupis , hospes eris ; Utque latet vitatque tuas abstrusa carinas , Vix tibi continget terra petita seni . Hos potius populos in dotem , ambage remissa , Accipe et advectas Pygmalionis opes . Ilion in Tyriam transfer felicius urbem Resque loco regis sceptraque sacra tene ! Si tibi mens avida est belli , si quaerit Iulus , Unde suo partus Marte triumphus eat , Quem superet , nequid desit , praebebimus hostem ; Hic pacis leges , hic locus arma capit . Tu modo , per matrem fraternaque tela , sagittas , Perque fugae comites , Dardana sacra , deos — Sic superent , quoscumque tua de gente reportat Mars ferus , et damni sit modus ille tui , Ascaniusque suos feliciter inpleat annos , Et senis Anchisae molliter ossa cubent ! — Parce , precor , domui , quae se tibi tradit habendam ! Quod crimen dicis praeter amasse meum ? Non ego sum Pthias magnisque oriunda Mycenis , Nec steterunt in te virque paterque meus . Si pudet uxoris , non nupta , sed hospita dicar ; Dum tua sit , Dido quidlibet esse feret . Nota mihi freta sunt Afrum plangentia litus ; Temporibus certis dantque negantque viam . Cum dabit aura viam , praebebis carbasa ventis ; Nunc levis eiectam continet alga ratem . Tempus ut observem , manda mihi ; certius ibis , Nec te , si cupies , ipsa manere sinam . Et socii requiem poscunt , laniataque classis Postulat exiguas semirefecta moras ; Pro meritis et siqua tibi debebimus ultra , Pro spe coniugii tempora parva peto — Dum freta mitescunt et amor , dum tempore et usu Fortiter edisco tristia posse pati . Si minus , est animus nobis effundere vitam ; In me crudelis non potes esse diu . Adspicias utinam , quae sit scribentis imago ! Scribimus , et gremio Troicus ensis adest , Perque genas lacrimae strictum labuntur in ensem , Qui iam pro lacrimis sanguine tinctus erit . Quam bene conveniunt fato tua munera nostro ! Instruis inpensa nostra sepulcra brevi . Nec mea nunc primum feriuntur pectora telo ; Ille locus saevi vulnus amoris habet . Anna soror , soror Anna , meae male conscia culpae , Iam dabis in cineres ultima dona meos . Nec consumpta rogis inscribar Elissa Sychaei , Hoc tantum in tumuli marmore carmen erit : Praebuit Aeneas et causam mortis et ensem ; Ipsa sua Dido concidit usa manu .
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Dido to Aeneas THUS the silver swan, when death approaches, bemoans her fate among the willows on the banks of Mæander. Nor do I address you, from a hope of being able to move you by my prayers: that, the Gods, averse to my request, forbid. But, having lost merit and fame, my honor and myself, why should I fear to lose a few dying words? You are then resolved to depart, and abandon unhappy Dido; the same winds will bear away your promises and sails. You are, I say, O Æneas, resolved to weigh at once your anchor and your vows, and go in quest of Italy, a land to which you are wholly a stranger. Neither my new-built Carthage and her rising walls have power to detain you; nor the supreme rule, which you are in vain urged to accept. You fly a city already built, and seek one that is yet to be raised; the one realm is still to be conquered, the other is subject to your command. Even if you had disembarked on the wished-for coast, how can the natives be induced to resignit? What people will grant the property of their lands to strangers? You must first be so fortunate as to find another love, another affectionate, constant Dido: you must again bind yourself by vows which you cannot keep. Yet when will you build a city flourishing like Carthage, and from your lofty towers survey the crowds below? But were all events to meet your desires, so that not even a wish remained unanswered, where will you find a wife to love like me? I burn like waxen torches smeared with sulphur, or pious incense cast into the smoking censer. Æneas is ever before my wakeful eyes; the image of Æneas baunts me both by night and day. He indeed is ungrateful, and regardless of all my good offices; and I am a fond fool, not to tear him instantly from my heart. In spite of all his ill-usage, I have not power to hate him. I can only complain of his baseness; and, when my complaints are over, love him more than ever. Pity, O Venus, your daughter-in-law; pierce, O Cupid, the unrelenting heart of your brother, and teach him to fight under your banners. Teach me also, who have already begun the pleasing task, (for I deny it not,) and let him prove an object worthy of my tenderness and concern. I rave; and the enchanting image deludes my eager mind; nor does he retain any portion of the softness of his mother. You are certainly the offspring of rocks and mountains, or the hardened oak that rises out of the hanging cliff. A savage tigress, or the tempestuous ocean, such as it is now when swelled by gathering storms, gave thee birth. But whither can you shape your course, or how stem the force of opposing billows? You prepare to set sail, a stormy sea forbids: let me enjoy the blessing which a rough winter offers. Behold how the blustering east-wind raises the foaming waves. Let me owe that to winter and a stormy sea, which I would rather owe to your love; the winds and waves have more of justice than you. Although thou deservest to perish, cruel and barbarous man, yet I am not of such value, that in flying from me you should lose your life. It is a costly hatred, and of too great amount, if you despise death while you endeavour to shun me. Soon the winds will cease, a calm succeed, and Triton, drawn by sea-green horses, wheel along the surface of the deep. Oh! how I wish that you may also change with the winds! and surely it will be so, unless you have a heart harder than the knotted oak. What? as if yet unacquainted with the dangers of a raging sea, can you still trust in an element that has so often proved fatal to you? Were you even to weigh anchor, and sail along a level deep, an extensive ocean has still many dangers in store. Waves bear the vengeance of the Gods against the violators of vows; it is here that perfidy is overtaken by severe punishment; especially treachery in love; for Venus, the mother of soft and tender desires, is said to have sprung naked from the waves, that murmur round the island of Cythera. Though lost, I am anxious for your safety, and avoid doing hurt to one who has loaded me with injuries; I am afraid that my enemy shipwrecked may be overwhelmed in the raging sea. For Heaven's sake live; I would rather lose you thus than by the grave. Live, I say, and be rather the cause of my funeral. Suppose you are overtaken by a fierce whirlwind, (forbid, ye Gods, that my words carry in them any omen!) what thought or courage will you then exert? The perjuries of your deceitful tongue, and the thought of wretched Dido killed by Phrygian perfidy, will then fly in your face. The mournful image of your forsaken wife will stand before your eyes, disconsolate and bloody, with hair disheveled. You will then own that you have met with your deserved fate, and think each flash of lightning aimed at you. Delay for a time your cruel flight, and tempt not the raging sea: a safe voyage will be the certain reward of your stay. If you are regardless of me, yet think of tender Iulus. It is enough for you to be branded as the cause of my death. What has Ascanius, what have the Gods deserved, that they who have so lately escaped the flames, should be exposed to perish amidst the waves? But neither do you bring your Gods with you; nor, as you falsely boasted, did your shoulders bear these sacred reliques, and a father, through flames and danger. You deceived me in all; nor am I the first credulous fool deluded by that perjured tongue, or the first who have suffered from a rash belief. If we ask after the mother of beautiful Iulus, we find that she fell deserted by a cruel and hard-hearted husband. These things you yourself related, and yet they made no impression: go on to torment me, since I so much deserve it; your punishment will be the less, be- cause of my crime. Nor can I doubt that even your own Gods are offended: it is now the seventh winter that you have been tossed by land and sea. When the waves had thrown you on the shore, I welcomed you to my kingdom, and intrusted you with the government, scarcely knowing even your name. I most sincerely wish that I had confined myself to these kind offices alone, and that the fame of your having shared my bed were buried in eternal oblivion! That was the unhappy day of my ruin, when a sudden dark storm drove us into a hanging cave. I heard a strange voice, and fancied that the mountain Nymphs approved: alas! too late I now find, that the Furies presaged my unhappy destiny. Exact, O violated chastity, the vengeance due to injured Sichæus, to whom (wretch that I am!) I hasten full of shame and anxiety. I preserve, in a little chapel of marble, a pious statue of Sichæus, wreathed with flowers and white wool. From this dome, I seemed to be four times called, and my dear husband ( as I imagined) in a low hollow voice said, "Dido, come." I will come without delay. I who am thy wife, due to thee alone, will come; but with diffidence, because conscious of the wrong I have done you. Pardon my unhappy error: I was mis-led by one formed to deceive. Let his attractions be the excuse of my folly. His mother a goddess, and the pious load of his aged sire, gave me hopes of a constant and unshaken husband. If I did err, yet my error claims an honorable excuse; suppose him faithful, and I might yield up my heart to him without a blush. The same fate which persecuted me before, continues still to harass me, and mars the quiet of my present hours. My husband fell murdered before the altars; and a bloody brother reaped his wealth, as the reward of that impious deed. I am banished from my own country, and forced to abandon the dear remains of my husband: pursued by my enemies, I take shelter in a foreign land. I was wafted to an unknown coast; and, having thus escaped from the cruelty of my brother and the dangers of the sea, I purchased the lands which I have made over to you. I built a city, and marked out my walls to such an extent, as to raise the envy of the neighbouring states. Wars threaten me, though a helpless woman. I prepare to carry on a war with strangers, and with difficulty fortify my new city, and arm my troops. A thousand rivals make pretensions to my love, who all join in complaining, that they are slighted for the sake of this stranger. Why do you hesitate to deliver me a captive to Getulian Iarbas? I have put it in your power to use me thus basely. I have moreover a brother, whose wicked hands, already stained with the blood of my husband, may be stained also with mine. Leave your Gods, and those sacred reliques which were polluted by thy touch. An impious right-hand ill becomes the worship of the heavenly powers. The Gods disdain a sacrilegious homage: and, to avoid thy worship, would willingly return to perish in the Grecian flames. Perhaps, barbarous man, you abandon me in a state of pregnancy, and when a part of you lies hidden in my womb. The unhappy infant will share the fate of its mother; and you will prove the cause of death to one yet unborn. The brother of Iulus will be involved in his parent's unhappy destiny; and one stroke will carry off both at the same time. But a God commands you to be gone. I wish he had forbidden you to touch upon our coasts, and that the streets of Carthage had never been trodden by the natives of Troy. It is doubtless under the same guide, (this Divinity forsooth), that you are now the sport of unfavorable winds, and waste the time in traversing tempestuous seas. Scarcely ought you to expose yourself to so many dangers to recover Troy itself, though in the same flourishing condition as when defended by Hector. At present you are not in quest of Simois, but the banks of the Tyber; where, when you arrive, you will be no more than a precarious guest; and, as it is far off, and eludes your search, it may perhaps remain undiscovered even to your old age. It would be better to accept the dowry of my kingdom, a sure inheritance, and the treasures snatched from covetous Pygmalion. You may more happily transfer your Troy to Carthage, and sway the sacred sceptre with kingly rule. If you are fond of war, if Iulus is impatient to gather laurels in the field; that every thing may be to your wish, he shall find foes to conquer. Here you may taste the blessings of peace, or engage in the toils of war. I adjure you by your parent Goddess, by the arrows of Cupid your brother; by the Gods of Troy, companions of your flight, (so may all that you bring with you from Troy survive the attacks of fortune, and that war prove the period of your calamities; so may Ascanius fill up the measure of his years, and the bones of old Anchises rest in peace,) have pity on me, whose fate is in your hand; whose only crime is to have loved you too well. I am not of Mycenæ, or descended from hostile Achilles; nor did my husband or father ever bear arms against you. If you think we unworthy to be your wife, receive me under the name of your hostess. Dido will submit to any thing, if she may be yours. The seas that beat against the African shore are well known to me. At certain seasons they favor and they frown. When the winds invite you to be gone, you shall spread the swelling sails: now the moored ships are surrounded with floating sea-weed. Let it be my care to observe the season proper for sailing; you shall go, when you may with safety; nor (if you should even desire it) would I suffer you to stay. Your companions will be pleased with a little rest; and the shattered fleet, not completely repaired, requires some delay. I also ask a small respite, if I have any merit with you; if you value my love, or the ties by which I am your's; that the waves and my love may assuage; that by time and use I may learn to bear my sorrows with fortitude. If not, I will end my misery with my life; nor shall it be long in your power to use me thus barbarously. O that you could represent me to yourself as writing this letter! I write, and on my lap lies a drawn sword. The tears flow down my checks upon that weapon, which instead of tears will be soon stained with blood. How well are your gifts fitted to my destiny! You raise my sepulchre at an easy rate. Nor does this dart now first pierce my breast; it previously felt the wounds of cruel love. And you, my dear sister, the confidante of my guilty flame, shall soon pay the last duty to my unhappy remains. Nor let my monument boast that I was the wife of Sichæus; may the marble bear only this inscription: Æneas afforded the cause and instrument of Dido's death; but she fell by her own hand. |
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Hermione Orestae Alloquor Hermione nuper fratremque virumque . Nunc fratrem ; nomen coniugis alter habet : Pyrrhus Achillides , animosus imagine patris , Inclusam contra iusque piumque tenet . Quod potui , renui , ne non invita tenerer ; Cetera femineae non valuere manus . 'Quid facis , Aeacide ? non sum sine vindice ,' dixi : 'Haec tibi sub domino est , Pyrrhe , puella suo !' Surdior ille freto clamantem nomen Orestae Traxit inornatis in sua tecta comis . Quid gravius capta Lacedaemone serva tulissem , Si raperet Graias barbara turba nurus ? Parcius Andromachen vexavit Achaia victrix , Cum Danaus Phrygias ureret ignis opes . At tu , cura mei si te pia tangit , Oreste , Inice non timidas in tua iura manus ! An siquis rapiat stabulis armenta reclusis , Arma feras , rapta coniuge lentus eris ? Sit socer exemplo nuptae repetitor ademptae , Cui pia militiae causa puella fuit ! Si socer ignavus vidua stertisset in aula , Nupta foret Paridi mater , ut ante fuit . Nec tu mille rates sinuosaque vela pararis Nec numeros Danai militis — ipse veni ! Sic quoque eram repetenda tamen , nec turpe marito Aspera pro caro bella tulisse toro . Quid , quod avus nobis idem Pelopeius Atreus , Et , si non esses vir mihi , frater eras . Vir , precor , uxori , frater succurre sorori ! Instant officio nomina bina tuo . Me tibi Tyndareus , vita gravis auctor et annis , Tradidit ; arbitrium neptis habebat avus . At pater Aeacidae promiserat inscius acti ; Plus patre , quo prior est ordine , pollet avus . Cum tibi nubebam , nulli mea taeda nocebat ; Si iungar Pyrrho , tu mihi laesus eris . Et pater ignoscet nostro Menelaus amori — Succubuit telis praepetis ipse dei . Quem sibi permisit , genero concedet amorem ; Proderit exemplo mater amata suo . Tu mihi , quod matri pater est ; quas egerat olim Dardanius partis advena , Pyrrhus agit . Ille licet patriis sine fine superbiat actis ; Et tu , quae referas facta parentis , habes . Tantalides omnis ipsumque regebat Achillem . Hic pars militiae ; dux erat ille ducum . Tu quoque per proavum Pelopem Pelopisque parentem , Si medios numeres , a Iove quintus eris . Nec virtute cares . arma invidiosa tulisti , Sed tibi — quid faceres ? — induit illa pater . Materia vellem fortis meliore fuisses ; Non lecta est operi , sed data causa tuo . Hanc tamen inplesti ; iuguloque Aegisthus aperto Tecta cruentavit , quae pater ante tuus . Increpat Aeacides laudemque in crimina vertit — Et tamen adspectus sustinet ille meos . Rumpor , et ora mihi pariter cum mente tumescunt , Pectoraque inclusis ignibus usta dolent . Hermione coram quisquamne obiecit Orestae , Nec mihi sunt vires , nec ferus ensis adest ? Flere licet certe ; flendo defundimus iram , Perque sinum lacrimae fluminis instar eunt . Has solas habeo semper semperque profundo ; Ument incultae fonte perenne genae . Num generis fato , quod nostros errat in annos , Tantalides matres apta rapina sumus ? Non ego fluminei referam mendacia cygni Nec querar in plumis delituisse Iovem . Qua duo porrectus longe freta distinet Isthmos , Vecta peregrinis Hippodamia rotis ; Taenaris Idaeo trans aequor ab hospite rapta Argolicas pro se vertit in arma manus . Vix equidem memini , memini tamen . omnia luctus , Omnia solliciti plena timoris erant ; Flebat avus Phoebeque soror fratresque gemelli , Orabat superos Leda suumque Iovem . Ipsa ego , non longos etiamtunc scissa capillos , Clamabam : 'sine me , me sine , mater , abis ?' Nam coniunx aberat ! ne non Pelopeia credar , Ecce , Neoptolemo praeda parata fui ! Pelides utinam vitasset Apollinis arcus ! Damnaret nati facta proterva pater ; Nec quondam placuit nec nunc placuisset Achilli Abducta viduum coniuge flere virum . Quae mea caelestis iniuria fecit iniquos , Quod mihi — vae miserae ! — sidus obesse querar ? Parva mea sine matre fui , pater arma ferebat , Et duo cum vivant , orba duobus eram . Non tibi blanditias primis , mea mater , in annis Incerto dictas ore puella tuli ; Non ego captavi brevibus tua colla lacertis Nec gremio sedi sarcina grata tuo . Non cultus tibi cura mei , nec pacta marito Intravi thalamos matre parante novos . Obvia prodieram reduci tibi — vera fatebor — Nec facies nobis nota parentis erat ! Te tamen esse Helenen , quod eras pulcherrima , sensi ; Ipsa requirebas , quae tua nata foret ! Pars haec una mihi , coniunx bene cessit Orestes ; Is quoque , ni pro se pugnat , ademptus erit . Pyrrhus habet captam reduce et victore parente — Hoc munus nobis diruta Troia dedit ! Cum tamen altus equis Titan radiantibus instant , Perfruor infelix liberiore malo ; Nox ubi me thalamis ululantem et acerba gementem Condidit in maesto procubuique toro , Pro somno lacrimis oculi funguntur obortis , Quaque licet , fugio sicut ab hoste virum . Saepe malis stupeo rerumque oblita locique Ignara tetigi Scyria membra manu , Utque nefas sensi , male corpora tacta relinquo Et mihi pollutas credor habere manus . Saepe Neoptolemi pro nomine nomen Orestae Exit , et errorem vocis ut omen amo . Per genus infelix iuro generisque parentem , Qui freta , qui terras et sua regna quatit ; Per patris ossa tui , patrui mihi , quae tibi debent , Quod se sub tumulo fortiter ulta iacent — Aut ego praemoriar primoque exstinguar in aevo , Aut ego Tantalidae Tantalis uxor ero !
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Hermione to Orestes I, UNHAPPY Hermione, address the man, lately my kinsman and spouse; now my kinsman only; for another possesses the name of husband. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, impetuous as his sire, forcibly confines me here, contrary to honour and justice. I resisted with all the force which I could exert, that I might not be detained; nor was it in the power of female hands to do more. "What are you doing, grandson of Æacus?" exclaimed I: "think not that I am without an avenger: the maid whom you injure has a master of her own." But he, more deaf than the raging waves, dragged me by the hair into his hated palace, calling for aid upon the name of Orestes. What could I have suffered more in the ruin of Lacedæmon, had a troop of barbarians led captive the Grecian dames? Triumphant Greece did not so harass unfortunate Andromache, when the wealth of Phrygia became the prey of devouring flames. But, Oh! Orestes, if you have any care or thought of me, assert with courage and resolution your undoubted right. Will you take up arms if any one should break in upon your sheepfolds, and yet be slow to free your wife from violence? Imitate the example of your father-in-law, who boldly reclaimed his ravished spouse, and thought the injury offered him in a woman a sufficient cause of war. Had Menelaus remained indolent in his deserted palace, my mother would have still continued the wife of Paris, as once she was. There is no necessity for a fleet, or powerful army; come only yourself. Not but that I deserve to be demanded back in this manner; nor is it any reproach to a husband, to have waged a furious war for the honor of his nuptial bed. Have we not the same grandfather, Atreus the son of Pelops? And, were you not my spouse, you are still my kinsman. Both as your wife and kinswoman, I beg your aid; remember that you are under a double tie to this good office. I was given to you by our ancestor Tyndareus, considerable for his experience and years; and one who, as my grandfather, had the undoubted disposal of me. But my father, not knowing this, had given his promise to Æacides. Surely that of Tyndareus, as first in authority and time, ought to have the preference. When espoused to you, my flame was just and unexceptionable; but if I should be married to Pyrrhus, you will be injured in me. My father Menelaus will easily be brought to approve our love; he himself hath yielded to the winged arrows of the God. He will make such allowance for your love, as he took to himself in his. His attachment to my mother affords an example to excuse ourselves. You are to me, what my father was to Helen; and Pyrrhus acts the part of the Trojan guest of old. Let him boast, without ceasing, of the mighty acts of his father; you also can relate the glorious deeds of yours. The descendant of Tantalus commanded all the Grecian host, even Achilles himself. That Hero headed only a single troop; Agamemnon was general in chief. You also glory in being of the race of Pelops and Tantalus; and, if you reckon farther, are the fifth in a direct line from the Father of the Gods. Nor are you destitute of courage; but you have borne arms in an invidious cause, constrained to engage in the just revenge of a father's death. Oh! how I wish that you had given proof of your valor in a less direful cause! yet was it not choice, but necessity. You yielded to the urgent call, and shed the blood of that villain Ægisthus, who had so cruelly murdered your father. But Pyrrhus censures it, and calls that praise-worthy revenge a crime; and even presumes to do it in my presence. I am distracted; my cheeks, as well as my heart, glow with rage, and my breast is scorched with flames pent up. Shall any one dare to blame Orestes in Hermione's presence? I have indeed neither strength nor arms: but I may shed tears: tears assuage grief; tears flow from my eyes in floods. These alone I always can command, and these I always shed profusely: my neglected cheeks are watered by a continual stream. By this fate of our race, which reaches down even to the present age, we matrons of the house of Tantalus fall a sure prey to every ravisher. I need not mention the deceit of the swan, or how Jupiter lurked under the disguise of feathers. Hippodamia was conveyed by foreign wheels, to where the isthmus stretching to a great length divides two seas. Helen was restored to the Amyclæan brothers, Castor and Pollux, from an Attic city. Helen, conveyed beyond sea by an Idæan stranger, raised in arms the whole power of Greece to recover her. Scarcely do I remember the time; yet, young as I was, I remember it: all appeared full of grief; all discovered manifest tokens of anxiety and concern. My grandfather wept, as did also her sister and twin brothers: Leda called on the heavenly powers and her own Jove. I myself with tresses torn, which even yet are not long, complained in a mournful voice; Alas, mother, are you gone without me? have you left me behind? for Menelaus was absent. Lo I too, that I might not belie the race of Pelops, am made the prey of hated Neoptolemus. Oh that Achilles had escaped the arrows of Apollo! he would doubtless have condemned the insolence of his son. He neither approved formerly, nor now would have approved, that a forsaken husband should lament the rape of his spouse. What crime of mine has raised the indignation of the Gods? Unhappy that I am! What ominous star obstructs my felicity? I was deprived of my mother in my earliest youth; my father was engaged in a foreign war; thus, though both were alive, I was destitute of both. I did not, O my mother, in my younger days fondle and flatter you with my prattling tongue; I caught you not round the neck with my infant arms, nor sat, a pleasing load, upon your knee. You had no care of my education, nor was I led by you to the nuptial bed. I came out to meet you at your return, and, to own the truth, I could not distinguish my mother's face. I only fancied you to be Helen, because you were the most beautiful; nor did you know, before a friend informed you, which was your daughter. My only good fortune was the having Orestes for my husband; and he too will be lost, unless he should maintain his right by arms. Pyrrhus hath obtained me from my victorious father; it is all I have gained by the fall of Troy. When the sun in his resplendent chariot mounts the mid heaven, my misfortunes then suffer some remission; but, when night conceals me in my chambers, howling and heaving bitter groans, and I have thrown myself upon my mournful couch; instead of being closed by sleep, my eyes overflow with tears, and I shun my husband when I can, as I would an enemy. Oft rendered insensible by my misfortunes, and unmindful of the place and persons, I am apt to stretch over Pyrrhus my unwary hand. But as soon as I recollect my error, I start from the hated touch, and think my hands polluted. Oft, instead of Pyrrhus, the name of my Orestes escapes me, and I am glad to interpret the mistake as a good omen. I swear by our unhappy race and its almighty sire, who shakes the earth and seas and heaven by his nod; by the bones of your father, my uncle, which, bravely revenged by your hand, now rest in a peaceful urn: I will either prematurely die, and be extinguished in my early youth, or, as I am a descendant of Tantalus, be married to one of my own race. |
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Deianira Herculi Mittor ad Alciden a coniuge conscia mentis Littera , si coniunx Deianira tua est : Gratulor Oechaliam titulis accedere nostris ; Victorem victae succubuisse queror . Fama Pelasgiadas subito pervenit in urbes Decolor et factis infitianda tuis , Quem numquam Iuno seriesque inmensa laborum Fregerit , huic Iolen inposuisse iugum . Hoc velit Eurystheus , velit hoc germana Tonantis , Laetaque sit vitae labe noverca tuae ; At non ille , brevis cui nox — si creditur — una Luctanti , ut tantus conciperere , fuit . Plus tibi quam Iuno , nocuit Venus : illa premendo Sustulit , haec humili sub pede colla tenet . Respice vindicibus pacatum viribus orbem , Qua latam Nereus caerulus ambit humum . Se tibi pax terrae , tibi se tuta aequora debent ; Inplesti meritis solis utramque domum . Quod te laturum est , caelum prius ipse tulisti ; Hercule supposito sidera fulsit Atlans . Quid nisi notitia est misero quaesita pudori , Si cumulas turpi facta priora nota ? Tene ferunt geminos pressisse tenaciter angues , Cum tener in cunis iam Iove dignus eras ? Coepisti melius quam desinis ; ultima primis Cedunt ; dissimiles hic vir et ille puer . Quem non mille ferae , quem non Stheneleius hostis , Non potuit Iuno vincere , vincit amor . At bene nupta feror , quia nominer Herculis uxor , Sitque socer , rapidis qui tonat altus equis . Quam male inaequales veniunt ad aratra iuvenci , Tam premitur magno coniuge nupta minor . Non honor est sed onus species laesura ferentis ; Siqua voles apte nubere , nube pari . Vir mihi semper abest , et coniuge notior hospes , Monstraque terribiles persequiturque feras . Ipsa domo vidua votis operata pudicis Torqueor , infesto ne vir ab hoste cadat ; Inter serpentes aprosque avidosque leones Iactor et haesuros terna per ora canes . Me pecudum fibrae simulacraque inania somni Ominaque arcana nocte petita movent . Aucupor infelix incertae murmura famae , Speque timor dubia spesque timore cadit . Mater abest queriturque deo placuisse potenti , Nec pater Amphitryon nec puer Hyllus adest ; Arbiter Eurystheus astu Iunonis iniquae Sentitur nobis iraque longa deae . Haec mihi ferre parum ? peregrinos addis amores , Et mater de te quaelibet esse potest . Non ego Partheniis temeratam vallibus Augen , Nec referam partus , Ormeni nympha , tuos ; Non tibi crimen erunt , Teuthrantia turba , sorores , Quarum de populo nulla relicta tibi est . Una , recens crimen , referetur adultera nobis , Unde ego sum Lydo facta noverca Lamo . Maeandros , terris totiens errator in isdem , Qui lassas in se saepe retorquet aquas , Vidit in Herculeo suspensa monilia collo Illo , cui caelum sarcina parva fuit . Non puduit fortis auro cohibere lacertos , Et solidis gemmas opposuisse toris ? Nempe sub his animam pestis Nemeaea lacertis Edidit , unde umerus tegmina laevus habet ! Ausus es hirsutos mitra redimire capillos ! Aptior Herculeae populus alba comae . Nec te Maeonia lascivae more puellae Incingi zona dedecuisse putas ? Non tibi succurrit crudi Diomedis imago , Efferus humana qui dape pavit equas ? Si te vidisset cultu Busiris in isto , Huic victor victo nempe pudendus eras . Detrahat Antaeus duro redimicula collo , Ne pigeat molli succubuisse viro . Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellas Diceris et dominae pertimuisse minas . Non fugis , Alcide , victricem mille laborum Rasilibus calathis inposuisse manum , Crassaque robusto deducis pollice fila , Aequaque famosae pensa rependis erae ? A , quotiens digitis dum torques stamina duris , Praevalidae fusos conminuere manus ! Ante pedes dominae Factaque narrabas dissimulanda tibi — Scilicet inmanes elisis faucibus hydros Infantem caudis involuisse manum , Ut Tegeaeus aper cupressifero Erymantho Incubet et vasto pondere laedat humum . Non tibi Threiciis adfixa penatibus ora , Non hominum pingues caede tacentur equae ; Prodigiumque triplex , armenti dives Hiberi Geryones , quamvis in tribus unus erat ; Inque canes totidem trunco digestus ab uno Cerberos inplicitis angue minante comis ; Quaeque redundabat fecundo vulnere serpens Fertilis et damnis dives ab ipsa suis ; Quique inter laevumque latus laevumque lacertum Praegrave conpressa fauce pependit onus ; Et male confisum pedibus formaque bimembri Pulsum Thessalicis agmen equestre iugis . Haec tu Sidonio potes insignitus amictu Dicere ? non cultu lingua retenta silet ? Se quoque nympha tuis ornavit Iardanis armis Et tulit a capto nota tropaea viro . I nunc , tolle animos et fortia gesta recense ; Quo tu non esses , iure vir illa fuit . Qua tanto minor es , quanto te , maxime rerum , Quam quos vicisti , vincere maius erat . Illi procedit rerum mensura tuarum — Cede bonis ; heres laudis amica tuae . O pudor ! hirsuti costis exuta leonis Aspera texerunt vellera molle latus ! Falleris et nescis — non sunt spolia illa leonis , Sed tua , tuque feri victor es , illa tui . Femina tela tulit Lernaeis atra venenis , Ferre gravem lana vix satis apta colum , Instruxitque manum clava domitrice ferarum , Vidit et in speculo coniugis arma mei ! Haec tamen audieram ; licuit non credere famae , Et venit ad sensus mollis ab aure dolor — Ante meos oculos adducitur advena paelex , Nec mihi , quae patior , dissimulare licet ! Non sinis averti ; mediam captiva per urbem Invitis oculis adspicienda venit . Nec venit incultis captarum more capillis , Fortunam vultu fassa decente suam ; Ingreditur late lato spectabilis auro , Qualiter in Phrygia tu quoque cultus eras . Dat vultum populo sublimis ut Hercule victo ; Oechaliam vivo stare parente putes . Forsitan et pulsa Aetolide Deianira Nomine deposito paelicis uxor erit , Eurytidosque Ioles atque Aonii Alcidae Turpia famosus corpora iunget Hymen . Mens fugit admonitu , frigusque perambulat artus , Et iacet in gremio languida facta manus . Me quoque cum multis , sed me sine crimine amasti . Ne pigeat , pugnae bis tibi causa fui . Cornua flens legit ripis Achelous in udis Truncaque limosa tempora mersit aqua ; Semivir occubuit in lotifero Eueno Nessus , et infecit sanguis equinus aquas . Sed quid ego haec refero ? scribenti nuntia venit Fama , virum tunicae tabe perire meae . Ei mihi ! quid feci ? quo me furor egit amantem ? Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori ? An tuus in media coniunx lacerabitur Oeta , Tu sceleris tanti causa superstes eris ? Siquid adhuc habeo facti , cur Herculis uxor Credar , coniugii mors mea pignus erit ! Tu quoque cognosces in me , Meleagre , sororem ! Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori ? Heu devota domus ! solio sedet Agrios alto ; Oenea desertum nuda senecta premit . Exulat ignotis Tydeus germanus in oris ; Alter fatali vivus in igne situs ; Exegit ferrum sua per praecordia mater . Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori ? Deprecor hoc unum per iura sacerrima lecti , Ne videar fatis insidiata tuis . Nessus , ut est avidum percussus harundine pectus , 'Hic ,' dixit , 'vires sanguis amoris habet .' Inlita Nesseo misi tibi texta veneno . Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori ? Iamque vale , seniorque pater germanaque Gorge , Et patria et patriae frater adempte tuae , Et tu lux oculis hodierna novissima nostris , Virque — sed o possis ! — et puer Hylle , vale !
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Deianira to Hercules I GIVE you joy that the conquest of Œchalia is now added to your other trophies; but I am sorry that the conqueror is forced to submit to the conquered. For a report that tends greatly to your dishonor, and which by your actions you must study to discredit, has been suddenly propagated through all the cities of Greece, that he whom neither the malice of Juno, nor an endless series of toils, could subdue, is now a captive to the charms of Iole. Eurystheus has much longed for this, as has the sister of the Thunderer; and your step-mother triumphs in this stain of your character: but it is far from pleasing him, to whom (if fame can be believed) one night was not sufficient to beget you, great as you are. Venus has injured you more than Juno. The wife of Jove raised, by endeavouring to depress you: the other goddess keeps your neck beneath her footstool. Think how the world lies hushed in peace by your avenging arm, where-ever the blue ocean circles this vast tract of earth. To thee the earth is indebted for peace, and the sea for a safe navigation: thy glory hath filled both houses of the sun. You previously bore up the heavens, that must at length bear you; Atlas, by your aid, supported the stars. Yet all this tends only to spread abroad your shame, if your former brave deeds are stained by an infamous miscarriage. Are you not said to have wrung to death two horrid snakes, when, young and in your cradle, you shewed yourself worthy of your father Jupiter? You began with more honor than you are like to end: the last parts of your life fall short of the first. How preposterous to shew yourself a man in this, in that a child! He whom not a thousand monsters, not the son of Sthenelus, his obstinate enemy, not implacable Juno could vanquish, is yet vanquished by love. But I am thouht honorably wedded, because I am called the wife of Hercules, and boast of him for my father-in-law, who, riding on his fiery steeds, rends the poles with his thunder. As when unequal steers are yoked in the same plough, so does the wife of inferior degree suffer from her mighty husband. A rank that oppresses, is no honor, but a burthen. She who desires to wed well, will do wisely to wed with her equal. My lord is ever absent; and a stranger is better known to him than his wife: he is always in pursuit of monsters and ferocious beasts. Oft I ad- dress Heaven with chaste vows, and tremble in my solitary home, lest my husband should fall by some savage enemy. My imagination hurries me amidst serpents, boars, furious lions, and three-headed devouring dogs. The entrails of the sacrifices, the vain phantoms of sleep, and secret omens of night, alarm me. I am terrified with every surmise of doubtful fame, and feel the full misery of a breast racked by alternate hope and fear. Your mother is absent, and complains that ever her charms engaged the notice of a powerful God. I have neither the society of your father Amphitryon, nor that of your son Hyllus. I feel only Eurystheus, the minister of Juno's unjust rage, and the unrelenting wrath of that goddess. But it is not difficult to bear this. You add also foreign loves; and any one may be a mother by you. I shall not speak either of Auge deflowered in the vales of Arcadia, or of your offspring by Astydamia, the daughter of Ormenus. You shall not be reproached with the fifty sisters of the house of Theutrantes, all of whom you debauched in one night. Your late crime I resent, in preferring an adulteress to me; by whom I am made stepmother to Lydian Lamus. Mæander, which wanders so much in the same plains, whose winding streams flow back by frequent channels, has seen the neck of Hercules adorned with a string of pearls; that neck to which the heavens were an easy load. You have not been ashamed to bind your arms with chains of gold, and deck your solid joints with shining gems. And yet under these arms did the Nemean lion expire, whose skin new forms a covering for your left shoulder. You had the weakness to bind your rude locks with a mitre; a garland of poplar would have better adorned the temples of Hercules. Nor did you think it a dishonor to confine your waist with the girdle of Omphale, after the manner of a wanton maid. The image of barbarous Diomedes, who savagely fed his mares with human flesh, was not then, surely, in your mind. Had Busiris beheld you in that unmanly attire, the conquered would have been ashamed of his conqueror. Antæus would have torn the pearls from your nervous neck, ashamed to submit to so effeminate a victor. You are said to hold the basket amidst the other attendants of Omphale, and tremble at the threats of a mistress. Degenerate Alcides, are you not ashamed to employ in servile offices those nervous hands which have been victorious over a thousand dangers? to apply your manly thumb in fashioning the long thread, and measure out the task given you by your fair mistress? How often, while with rough fingers you draw out the slender thread, have your sinewy hands broken the feeble distaffs? You are said, unhappy man, to tremble at the thongs of the whip, and, falling prostrate at the feet of your mistress, to beg a respite from stripes. You hope to appease her by boasting of your great deeds and pompous triumphs; exploits which, in those circumstances, it would be better to dissemble: by relating how, when an infant in your cradle, you grasped hideous serpents, not terrified by their extended jaws, or forky tongues: how the Arcadian boar was slain upon cypress-bearing Erymanthus, and burthened the earth with his enormous weight. You tell also of the heads that were fixed upon Thracian gates, and the mares fattened by the blood of men; of Geryon, that three-fold monster, rich in Iberian herds, who had three bodies in one; of Cerberus, forming three dogs from the same trunk, having his hair wreathed with hissing snakes; of the astonishing serpent which multiplied by its wounds, and gathered strength from the greatness of its losses; of the enormous burthen which, poised between your left arm and side, you by main strength pressed to death; and the troop of Centaurs, who, vainly trusting to their feet and double-limbed form, were dispersed on the craggy summits of Thessaly. Are you not ashamed to recount these exploits, when you are clad in Tyrian purple; and is not your tongue restrained by a sense of the unseemly dress? The daughter of Iardanus has moreover adorned herself with your armour, and wears the mighty trophies of her captive lover. Rouse now your courage, and boast of your warlike deeds. She has taken the name of hero, because you were unworthy of it; and is as much above you, as it was a harder task to subdue you, the greatest of conquerors, than those whom you overcame. The glory of your actions redounds to her. Resign your claim of praise: a mistress has become heir to your trophies. For shame! do you suffer the bristly hide, torn from the ribs of the savage lion, to enfold her feeble limbs? Weak man, to be thus deluded! These are not the spoils of the lion, but yours: you have indeed triumphed over the savage monster; but she triumphs over you. A woman, scarcely able to sustain the distaff loaded with wool, bears the darts dipped in the poison of the Lernæan Hydra; she has armed her right hand with the club which could subdue the most ferocious beasts; and has viewed in a mirror the armour of her spouse. These things, indeed, I only heard, and was willing to disbelieve common report; but now the mournful tale forces itself upon my senses. A foreign harlot is caressed in my sight; and it is no longer in my power to hide what I suffer. I am not even allowed to be absent. The captive, whom I behold with unwilling eyes, is led through the midst of the city, not in the manner of slaves, with her hair disheveled, and hiding her face in token of her disaster; but in triumphal pomp, adorned with shining gold, and clad in the same attire which you wore when in Phrygia. She carries her dead high amidst the captives subdued by Hercules, as if Œchalia still stood, and her father yet existed. Perhaps too, laying aside the name of mistress, she will be received as your spouse, and Deianira of Ætolia be ba- nished from your bed. An impious marriage may join, in unchaste bands, Iole the daughter of Eurytus, and the infatuated Alcides. My mind sickens with the apprehension; a shivering coldness spreads itself over all my limbs; and my languid hands lie motionless upon my knees. You loved also me among many others; but your love to me was without a crime. Think it no dishonor that twice you fought victorious in my behalf. Achelous gathered his shattered horns upon his oozy banks, and plunged his mutilated temples in the muddy stream. Nessus the Centaur fell near the stream of fatal Evenus, and tinged the waters with his unnatural blood. But why do I now mention these things? Even while I write, Fame brings me the news that my husband perishes by the poison of the shirt that I sent him. Alas! what have I done? Whither has my despairing love driven me? Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? Shall your husband perish miserably on Mount Œta; and you, the cause of that barbarous crime, survive? If aught yet remains to be done by which I may shew myself the wife of Hercules, death shall be the confirmation of our union. You also, Meleager, shall own in me a true sister. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? Oh! ill-fated house! Agrios usurps the lofty throne, and a desolate old age oppresses Œneus. My brother Tydeus wanders an exile on unknown coasts: the other perished alive in devouring flames. My mother transfixed her heart with steel. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? It is my only request, by all the most sacred ties of marriage, that I may not be thought to have betrayed you to your fate. Nessus, when his breast was pierced by the flying arrow, said to me, "This blood of mine contains the powers of love." I sent you a robe stained with the poison of the Centaur. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? And now, my aged sire, and sister Gorge, adieu. Farewell, my country, and my brother, banished from your native home. Adieu, light of day, the last to my now fading eyes. Farewell, my husband, (Oh that thou could'st fare well!) Hyllus, my dear Hyllus, adieu! |
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Ariadne Theseo Illa relicta feris etiamnunc , improbe Theseu , Vivit : et haec aequa mente tulisse velis : Mitius inveni quam te genus omne ferarum ; Credita non ulli quam tibi peius eram . Quae legis , ex illo , Theseu , tibi litore mitto Unde tuam sine me vela tulere ratem , In quo me somnusque meus male prodidit et tu , Per facinus somnis insidiate meis . Tempus erat , vitrea quo primum terra pruina Spargitur et tectae fronde queruntur aves . Incertum vigilans ac somno languida movi Thesea prensuras semisupina manus — Nullus erat ! referoque manus iterumque retempto , Perque torum moveo bracchia — nullus erat ! Excussere metus somnum ; conterrita surgo , Membraque sunt viduo praecipitata toro . Protinus adductis sonuerunt pectora palmis , Utque erat e somno turbida , rupta coma est . Luna fuit ; specto , siquid nisi litora cernam . Quod videant oculi , nil nisi litus habent . Nunc huc , nunc illuc , et utroque sine ordine , curro ; Alta puellares tardat harena pedes . Interea toto clamavi in litore 'Theseu !': Reddebant nomen concava saxa tuum , Et quotiens ego te , totiens locus ipse vocabat . Ipse locus miserae ferre volebat opem . Mons fuit — apparent frutices in vertice rari ; Hinc scopulus raucis pendet adesus aquis . Adscendo — vires animus dabat — atque ita late Aequora prospectu metior alta meo . Inde ego — nam ventis quoque sum crudelibus usa — Vidi praecipiti carbasa tenta Noto . Ut vidi haut dignam quae me vidisse putarem , Frigidior glacie semianimisque fui . Nec languere diu patitur dolor ; excitor illo , Excitor et summa Thesea voce voco . 'Quo fugis ?' exclamo ; 'scelerate revertere Theseu ! Flecte ratem ! numerum non habet illa suum !' Haec ego ; quod voci deerat , plangore replebam ; Verbera cum verbis mixta fuere meis . Si non audires , ut saltem cernere posses , Iactatae late signa dedere manus ; Candidaque inposui longae velamina virgae — Scilicet oblitos admonitura mei ! Iamque oculis ereptus eras . tum denique flevi ; Torpuerant molles ante dolore genae . Quid potius facerent , quam me mea lumina flerent , Postquam desieram vela videre tua ? Aut ego diffusis erravi sola capillis , Qualis ab Ogygio concita Baccha deo , Aut mare prospiciens in saxo frigida sedi , Quamque lapis sedes , tam lapis ipsa fui . Saepe torum repeto , qui nos acceperat ambos , Sed non acceptos exhibiturus erat , Et tua , quae possum pro te , vestigia tango Strataque quae membris intepuere tuis . Incumbo , lacrimisque toro manante profusis , 'Pressimus ,' exclamo , 'te duo — redde duos ! Venimus huc ambo ; cur non discedimus ambo ? Perfide , pars nostri , lectule , maior ubi est ?' Quid faciam ? quo sola ferar ? vacat insula cultu . Non hominum video , non ego facta boum . Omne latus terrae cingit mare ; navita nusquam , Nulla per ambiguas puppis itura vias . Finge dari comitesque mihi ventosque ratemque — Quid sequar ? accessus terra paterna negat . Ut rate felici pacata per aequora labar , Temperet ut ventos Aeolus — exul ero ! Non ego te , Crete centum digesta per urbes , Adspiciam , puero cognita terra Iovi , Ut pater et tellus iusto regnata parenti Prodita sunt facto , nomina cara , meo . Cum tibi , ne victor tecto morerere recurvo , Quae regerent passus , pro duce fila dedi , Tum mihi dicebas : 'per ego ipsa pericula iuro , Te fore , dum nostrum vivet uterque , meam .' Vivimus , et non sum , Theseu , tua — si modo vivit Femina periuri fraude sepulta viri . Me quoque , qua fratrem mactasses , inprobe , clava ; Esset , quam dederas , morte soluta fides . Nunc ego non tantum , quae sum passura , recordor , Et quaecumque potest ulla relicta pati : Occurrunt animo pereundi mille figurae , Morsque minus poenae quam mora mortis habet . Iam iam venturos aut hac aut suspicor illac , Qui lanient avido viscera dente , lupos . Quis scit an et fulvos tellus alat ista leones ? Forsitan et saevas tigridas insula habet . Et freta dicuntur magnas expellere phocas ! Quis vetat et gladios per latus ire meum ? Tantum ne religer dura captiva catena , Neve traham serva grandia pensa manu , Cui pater est Minos , cui mater filia Phoebi , Quodque magis memini , quae tibi pacta fui ! Si mare , si terras porrectaque litora vidi , Multa mihi terrae , multa minantur aquae . Caelum restabat — timeo simulacra deorum ! Destitutor rabidis praeda cibusque feris ; Sive colunt habitantque viri , diffidimus illis — Externos didici laesa timere viros . Viveret Androgeos utinam ! nec facta luisses Inpia funeribus , Cecropi terra , tuis ; Nec tua mactasset nodoso stipite , Theseu , Ardua parte virum dextera , parte bovem ; Nec tibi , quae reditus monstrarent , fila dedissem , Fila per adductas saepe recepta manus . Non equidem miror , si stat victoria tecum , Strataque Cretaeam belua planxit humum . Non poterant figi praecordia ferrea cornu ; Ut te non tegeres , pectore tutus eras . Illic tu silices , illic adamanta tulisti , Illic , qui silices , Thesea , vincat , habes . Crudeles somni , quid me tenuistis inertem ? Aut semel aeterna nocte premenda fui . Vos quoque crudeles , venti , nimiumque parati Flaminaque in lacrimas officiosa meas . Dextera crudelis , quae me fratremque necavit , Et data poscenti , nomen inane , fides ! In me iurarunt somnus ventusque fidesque ; Prodita sum causis una puella tribus ! Ergo ego nec lacrimas matris moritura videbo , Nec , mea qui digitis lumina condat , erit ? Spiritus infelix peregrinas ibit in auras , Nec positos artus unguet amica manus ? Ossa superstabunt volucres inhumata marinae ? Haec sunt officiis digna sepulcra meis ? Ibis Cecropios portus patriaque receptus , Cum steteris turbae celsus in ore tuae Et bene narraris letum taurique virique Sectaque per dubias saxea tecta vias , Me quoque narrato sola tellure relictam ! Non ego sum titulis subripienda tuis . Nec pater est Aegeus , nec tu Pittheidos Aethrae Filius ; auctores saxa fretumque tui ! Di facerent , ut me summa de puppe videres ; Movisset vultus maesta figura tuos ! Nunc quoque non oculis , sed , qua potes , adspice mente Haerentem scopulo , quem vaga pulsat aqua . Adspice demissos lugentis more capillos Et tunicas lacrimis sicut ab imbre gravis . Corpus , ut inpulsae segetes aquilonibus , horret , Litteraque articulo pressa tremente labat . Non te per meritum , quoniam male cessit , adoro ; Debita sit facto gratia nulla meo . Sed ne poena quidem ! si non ego causa salutis , Non tamen est , cur sis tu mihi causa necis . Has tibi plangendo lugubria pectora lassas Infelix tendo trans freta lata manus ; Hos tibi — qui superant — ostendo maesta capillos ! Per lacrimas oro , quas tua facta movent — Flecte ratem , Theseu , versoque relabere velo ! Si prius occidero , tu tamen ossa feres !
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Ariadne to Theseus BEASTS of the most savage nature have proved more mild and gentle to me, than you; nor could I have been intrusted to more faithless hands. The epistle which you now read, Theseus, is sent to you from that shore, whence your ship, leaving me behind, was borne by the spreading sails; where soft sleep, and you also, who barbarously watched the opportunity of my slumbers, fatally betrayed me. It was the season when the earth begins to be covered with shining frost, and the birds, lurking among the leaves, complain of the decaying year; when, half awake, and still in slumber languidly reclining, I stretched my arms to grasp my Theseus. No Theseus was there: I suddenly pulled back my hands, and then tried once more to find him. I wandered with my arms over all the bed: still no Theseus was there. Fear instantly shook off sleep: I started up in a consternation, and headlong threw my limbs fiom the deserted bed. Forthwith my breast resounded with the repeated strokes of my hands; and I tore my hair, as yet disheveled from sleep. The moon shone: I looked round if I could discern any thing besides the shore. My eager eyes found nought to look at but the shore. I ran sometimes here, sometimes there, and with wild disorder on either side: the deep yielding sands impeted my tender feet. Mean-while the hollow rocks over all the shore resounded the name of Theseus to my incessant cries. As often as I named you, the place re-echoed the sound: the very place seemed willing to alleviate my wretched lot. Near the spot was a mountain, whose top was thinly covered with tufted shrubs; and where a steep rock, undermined by the beating waves, impended. I mounted the ascent: my passion gave me strength; and thence with wide prospect I surveyed the mighty deep. Hence (for the winds also were cruelly unkind) I could observe your sails full-stretched by stiff southern gales. I either saw, or, when I thought I saw, remained cold as ice, and half-dead with concern. Nor did grief long permit this indolent respite: I was roused by that sensation; I was roused, and in a loud complaining strain called upon Theseus: "Whither do you fly? Return, perjured wretch, change your course; the ship has not her complement." Thus I complained: I made up in shrieks what was wanting in articulate sounds, and mingled my words with repeated blows upon my breast. My hands, waved high in the air, made signs, that, if you could not hear, you might at least perceive me. I also held out a white robe upon a long pole, to admonish you of her whom you had left behind. But, alas! I soon lost sight of you; it was then I began to weep; my tender cheeks had hitherto been stiffened with grief. What could my eyes do better, after ceasing to behold your sails, than help me to bemoan my forlorn state? Sometimes I wandered solitary, with my hair disheveled, like the raving priestesses inspired by the Theban God. Sometimes, fixing my eyes upon the sea, I silently seated myself upon some pointed rock, cold and senseless as the stone whereon I sat. Often I repair to the bed which once sheltered us both: Alas! it will never more exhibit the once happy lovers. I kiss the print left by your dear body, and love to repose myself upon the spot which your dear joints have warmed. I throw myself down; and watering the couch with profuse tears, Here, (I cry,) we pressed thee together: bring us together again. Hither we both came; why not both also depart? Perfidious bed, what is become of my dearer half? What shall I do? Whither, thus desolate and forsaken, shall I fly? The island lies uncultivated, and affords no prints either of men or cattle. The sea encompasses me. No mariner appears, no ship to bear me through the ambiguous tract. And suppose a ship, companions, and winds were in my power, what could I do? my native country denies access. Even if in a prosperous ship I should traverse the quiet seas, Æolus restraining the murmuring winds, still I should remain an exile. I shall never more behold you, O Crete, planned out into a hundred cities, — the isle where infant Jupiter was nursed. I have basely betrayed my father, and his kingdom ruled by just laws, — names that must be ever dear to me. For you have I betrayed them, when, anxious lest the victor should be bewildered in the labyrinth, I gave you a clue to guide your uncertain steps: when you deceived me by false protestations, and swore by the dangers from which you had escaped, that, while life remained, we should be inseparably one. We live; and yet, Theseus, I am no longer thine; if indeed an unhappy woman, oppressed by the treachery of a perjured man, can be said to live. If you, barbarous man, had murdered me with the club with which you slew my brother, my death would have absolved you from your vow. Now I not only figure to myself those ills which I shall suffer, but every mishap that can befall one in my forlorn condition. A thousand shapes of death wander before my eyes. Death itself appears less terrible, than the lin- gering life that threatens me. Sometimes I fancy that ravenous wolves may rush upon me unseen, and tear my bowels with their bloody teeth. Who knows but the island may nourish savage lions? perhaps too it is infested with fierce tigers: the shores are said to be fertile in sea-calves. How am I screened from the stroke of a piercing sword? But most I dread to be led a captive in cruel chains, and to prosecute the toilsome task with servile hands; — I, who boast of Minos for my father, who was born of the daughter of Phœbus; and, (what is still more to me) who was solemnly engaged to you. If I turn my eyes toward the sea, the earth, or the winding shore, both earth and waves threaten me with a thousand dangers. Heaven only remains, and yet even here I fear the forms of the Gods. I am left a prey, and food for savage beasts. If men inhabit or cultivate these fields, I am apt to mistrust even them. already a sufferer, I have learned to be slow in giving credit to strangers. Oh that Androgeos had still lived, nor the land of Cecrops been condemned to expiate that wicked deed by its funerals! Oh that thy strong arm, Theseus, had never killed my monstrous brother, half ox, half man, with a knotted club, and that I had never given you the thread to guide your returning steps, the thread often grasped by your alternate bands! No wonder that victory declared for you, and the prostrate monster tinged with its blood the Cretan ground. A heart so steeled could not be pierced by the sharpest horn. Had you encountered him with your breast uncovered, you were yet safe from harm. There you were armed with flint and adamant; there you bore Theseus, yet harder than adamant. Cruel sleep, why did you bind me over to a fatal sloth? It had been better for me to have sunk in eternal night. You also, barbarous winds, too readily conspired against me. Ye officious gales have been to me the cause of many tears. O inhuman right-hand, the bane of both me and my brother; and faith, an empty name, plighted at my request! Sleep, the winds, and strongest vows, combined against me, and concurred in deceiving a harmless unsuspecting maid. Alas! must I then here breathe my last, nor see the tears of a pitying mother? shall none attend to close my dying eyes? Must I breathe out my mournful soul in foreign air, and no friendly hand anoint my motionless limbs? Shall my unburied frame be left a prey to devouring vultures? Are these the proper returns for all my affectionate services? When you enter the port of Cecrops, and, welcomed by your country, mount the lofty citadel that overlooks the town; when there you relate your victory over the doubtful monster, and your escape from the intricate prison, branched out into a thousand windings; tell also how I was abandoned in a desert land: I ought not to be forgotten in the train of your exploits. Surely Ægeus was not your father; Æthra never gave birth to you: you sprang from pointed locks, or the raging sea. Oh if you could have viewed me from the stern of your ship, the mournful figure had surely moved compassion. As you cannot now observe me with your eyes, only imagine me to yourself, hanging over a frightful rock, undermined by the waves that dash against it below. Consider me with my hair disheveled, and carelessly spread over my disconsolate face; behold my clothes heavy with tears, as from a shower. My body trembles like corn shaken by the north winds; and the letters proceed unequal from my faltering hand. I do not urge you now by my merit, since my favors were so ill bestowed, nor expect any retribution, as due to my kind offices: but then, what pretence have you for ill usage? Had I not contributed in the smallest degree to your safety, even this is no reason why you should be the cause of my death. To thee wretched Ariadne stretches over the wide sea her hands, faint with often beating her sorrowful breast. Disconsolate as I am, I remind you of the few mangled tresses that yet remain. I conjure you, by the tears shed for your cruel departure, turn your ship, dear Theseus, and bear back your inverted sails. If I die ere you arrive, you may yet collect my scattered bones. |
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Canace Macareo Aeolis Aeolidae, quam non habet ipsa , salutem Mittit et armata verba notata manu ; Siqua tamen caecis errabunt scripta lituris , Oblitus a dominae caede libellus erit . Dextra tenet calamum , strictum tenet altera ferrum , Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo . Haec est Aeolidos fratri scribentis imago ; Sic videor duro posse placere patri . Ipse necis cuperem nostrae spectator adesset , Auctorisque oculis exigeretur opus ! Ut ferus est multoque suis truculentior Euris , Spectasset siccis vulnera nostra genis . Scilicet est aliquid , cum saevis vivere ventis ; Ingenio populi convenit ille sui . Ille Noto Zephyroque et Sithonio Aquiloni Imperat et pinnis , Eure proterve , tuis . Imperat heu ! ventis , tumidae non imperat irae , Possidet et vitiis regna minora suis . Quid iuvat admotam per avorum nomina caelo Inter cognatos posse referre Iovem ? Num minus infestum , funebria munera , ferrum Feminea teneo , non mea tela , manu ? O utinam , Macareu , quae nos commisit in unum , Venisset leto serior hora meo ! Cur umquam plus me , frater , quam frater amasti , Et tibi , non debet quod soror esse , fui ? Ipsa quoque incalui , qualemque audire solebam , Nescio quem sensi corde tepente deum . Fugerat ore color ; macies adduxerat artus ; Sumebant minimos ora coacta cibos ; Nec somni faciles et nox erat annua nobis , Et gemitum nullo laesa dolore dabam . Nec , cur haec facerem , poteram mihi reddere causam Nec noram , quid amans esset ; at illud eram . Prima malum nutrix animo praesensit anili ; Prima mihi nutrix 'Aeoli ,' dixit , 'amas !' Erubui , gremioque pudor deiecit ocellos ; Haec satis in tacita signa fatentis erant . Iamque tumescebant vitiati pondera ventris , Aegraque furtivum membra gravabat onus . Quas mihi non herbas , quae non medicamina nutrix Attulit audaci supposuitque manu , Ut penitus nostris — hoc te celavimus unum — Visceribus crescens excuteretur onus ? A , nimium vivax admotis restitit infans Artibus et tecto tutus ab hoste fuit ! Iam noviens erat orta soror pulcherrima Phoebi , Et nova luciferos Luna movebat equos . Nescia , quae faceret subitos mihi causa dolores , Et rudis ad partus et nova miles eram . Nec tenui vocem . 'quid ,' ait , 'tua crimina prodis ?' Oraque clamantis conscia pressit anus . Quid faciam infelix ? gemitus dolor edere cogit , Sed timor et nutrix et pudor ipse vetant . Contineo gemitus elapsaque verba reprendo Et cogor lacrimas conbibere ipsa meas . Mors erat ante oculos , et opem Lucina negabat — Et grave , si morerer , mors quoque crimen erat — Cum super incumbens scissa tunicaque comaque Pressa refovisti pectora nostra tuis , Et mihi 'vive , soror , soror o carissima ,' dixti ; 'Vive nec unius corpore perde duos ! Spes bona det vires ; fratri nam nupta futura es . Illius , de quo mater , et uxor eris .' Mortua , crede mihi , tamen ad tua verba revixi : Et positum est uteri crimen onusque mei . Quid tibi grataris ? media sedet Aeolus aula ; Crimina sunt oculis subripienda patris . Frugibus infantem ramisque albentis olivae Et levibus vittis sedula celat anus , Fictaque sacra facit dicitque precantia verba ; Dat populus sacris , dat pater ipse viam . Iam prope limen erat — patrias vagitus ad auris Venit , et indicio proditur ille suo ! Eripit infantem mentitaque sacra revelat Aeolus ; insana regia voce sonat . Ut mare fit tremulum , tenui cum stringitur aura , Ut quatitur tepido fraxina virga Noto , Sic mea vibrari pallentia membra videres ; Quassus ab inposito corpore lectus erat . Inruit et nostrum vulgat clamore pudorem , Et vix a misero continet ore manus . Ipsa nihil praeter lacrimas pudibunda profudi ; Torpuerat gelido lingua retenta metu . Iamque dari parvum canibusque avibusque nepotem Iusserat , in solis destituique locis . Vagitus dedit ille miser — sensisse putares — Quaque suum poterat voce rogabat avum . Quid mihi tunc animi credis , germane , fuisse — Nam potes ex animo colligere ipse tuo — Cum mea me coram silvas inimicus in altas Viscera montanis ferret edenda lupis ? Exierat thalamo ; tunc demum pectora plangi Contigit inque meas unguibus ire genas . Interea patrius vultu maerente satelles Venit et indignos edidit ore sonos : 'Aeolus hunc ensem mittit tibi ' — tradidit ensem — 'Et iubet ex merito scire , quid iste velit .' Scimus , et utemur violento fortiter ense ; Pectoribus condam dona paterna meis . His mea muneribus , genitor , conubia donas ? Hac tua dote , pater , filia dives erit ? Tolle procul , decepte , faces , Hymenaee , maritas Et fuge turbato tecta nefanda pede ! Ferte faces in me quas fertis , Erinyes atrae , Et meus ex isto luceat igne rogus ! Nubite felices Parca meliore sorores , Amissae memores sed tamen este mei ! Quid puer admisit tam paucis editus horis ? Quo laesit facto vix bene natus avum ? Si potuit meruisse necem , meruisse putetur — A , miser admisso plectitur ille meo ! Nate , dolor matris , rabidarum praeda ferarum , Ei mihi ! natali dilacerate tuo ; Nate , parum fausti miserabile pignus amoris — Haec tibi prima dies , haec tibi summa fuit . Non mihi te licuit lacrimis perfundere iustis , In tua non tonsas ferre sepulcra comas ; Non super incubui , non oscula frigida carpsi . Diripiunt avidae viscera nostra ferae . Ipsa quoque infantis cum vulnere prosequar umbras Nec mater fuero dicta nec orba diu . Tu tamen , o frustra miserae sperate sorori , Sparsa , precor , nati collige membra tui , Et refer ad matrem socioque inpone sepulcro , Urnaque nos habeat quamlibet arta duos ! Vive memor nostri , lacrimasque in vulnera funde , Neve reformida corpus amantis amans . Tu , rogo , dilectae nimium mandata sororis Perfice ; mandatis obsequar ipsa patris !
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Canace to Macareus IF any of these lines should appear stained and obscured by blots, know that they will be occasioned by the death of the writer. My right hand holds the pen, my left a drawn sword; and the paper lies unfolded in my lap. This is the true picture of Canace writing to her brother: it is only in this manner, it seems, that I can satisfy a hard-hearted father. I could wish him to be a spectator of my untimely death, that the blow might be given in the presence of a stern father who commanded it. Fierce, and far more cruel than his eastern ministers of storms, he would view without a tear the mortal wound. For it is infectious to live with savage winds; and therefore he contracts the temper of his people. He commands the South, the Zephyr, and the northern blasts of Thrace; and, surly East, he checks thy rigid wing. He controls indeed the winds; but, alas! he has no power over his own unmeasurable wrath, and governs a kingdom less intractable than his own vices. What avails it that I am allied to the Gods above, that Jupiter is in the number of my kindred? does it snatch from my trembling hind the destructive steel, that fatal gift and weapon, alas, unfit for me! O Macareus, I wish that the hour which joined us had come later than that of my death! Why, brother, did you ever love me otherwise than as a brother? And why did I regard you more than became a sister? For I also felt the powerful flame, and perceived I know not what God taking possession of my glowing heart; but such as I had often heard described. The color had forsaken my cheeks; a leanness had spread itself over all my joints; and my mouth took with reluctance even the smallest food. No gentle slumbers refreshed me; the nights seemed tedious and lingering; and I often sighed to myself, though no apparent grief oppressed me. I could not give any reason why I was thus disconsolate; nor, though in love myself, did I know what it was to love. My aged nurse first divined the growing mischief; and, wise through years, first told me that it was love. I blushed; and, full of shame, fixed my eyes upon my bosom; signs which, accompanied with silence, too clearly testified my confession. And now my womb swelled with the guilty load, and the growing weight pressed my sickly limbs. What herbs, what me- dicines and not my nurse procure, and with her impious hands apply, that the increasing load (this alone we hid from thee) might be entirely discharged? But, alas! the tenacious infant too well withstood our best artifices, securely screened from all hostile attacks. And now the splendid sister of Phœbus had nine times completed her course, and the tenth moon was guiding forward her light-revolving steeds; when some unknown cause afflicted me with sudden pangs. I was a stranger to the movements of child-bearing, and a mere novice in this kind of discipline. I suppressed not my cries, "What!" said my nurse, "do you thus openly proclaim your guilt?" And, knowing the cause of my complaint, she stopped my mouth with her hand. What could I do in that unhappy case? Pain urged my groans; but shame, fear, and my nurse, pressed me to silence. I nevertheless strove to repress my groans, and struggled with my cries; and was forced to drink the tears that trickled from my eyes. Death seemed to hover round me; Lucina refused her aid; and even death was a grievous crime, had I then expired: when entering with thy hair and garments torn, my bosom cherishing close pressed to thine, thou saidst, Live, my sister, O live, my dearest sister; nor rashly destroy two lives in one. Strengthen yourself by hope; for you shall soon be wedded to your brother, and become the wife of him by whom you have been made a mother. Though taint, and almost dead, yet (believe it) your words revived me; and the guilty load sprang forward from my womb. Why do you rejoice at this danger over? In the mid-hall sits Æolus; and from a parent's eyes our crimes must be concealed. The cunning old nurse shrouds the babe with leaves, white olive boughs, and holy fillets; and while she feigns sacred rites, and mutters prayers, the people, and even my father, make way for the solemnity. And now she had almost reached the threshold, when the infant's cry invades my father's ears; by its own evidence, alas! betrayed. Instantly he seizes the child, and unveils the feigned solemnity: the palace resounds with his raging voice. As the sea quivers when brushed by the curling breeze, or a tall ash when shaken by the stormy south-wind; so you might see my pale limbs shiver with fear, and the bed shake under my trembling body. Æolus rushes in with violence, and publishes my shame by his clamors: hardly could he restrain his hands from my face. I, overwhelmed with conscious guilt, answered only by my tears; fear had bound up my frozen tongue. And now he commanded his little grandchild to be thrown out a prey to dogs and hungry birds, and left in some solitary place. The helpless babe cried out, as if he understood his doom, and conjured his grandfather with what voice he could. Imagine, dear brother, what anguish of soul I must then feel, (for you may easily guess the state of my mind by your own,) to hear my bowels doomed in my presence a prey to mountain-wolves, and the savage beasts of the woods. My father left me: then was I at liberty to beat my breast, and wound my checks with my nails. Meantime a messenger came from my father, his countenance sad, and his words full of cruelty. Æolus sends thee this sword (he then gave the sword into my hand), and says, that the sense of thy own demerits will teach thee what it means. I know what it means; and will boldly urge the piercing steel: my father's gift shall be treasured in my breast. Are these the gifts with which a father graces my nuptials? Is this the dower with which you enrich your daughter? Deluded Hymenæus, remove far hence the nuptial torch, and fly with hurry and trepidation from this detested place. Let the hideous Furies bring hither their internal brands, that, kindled up by them, my funeral pile may blaze. Do you, my sisters, wed, blessed with more propitious fate; but, warned, be ever mindful of my crime. What has my infant son, so lately born, committed? What could one scarcely brought forth do to offend his grandfather? If it were possible for him to have deserved so hard a fate, let him be thought to have deserved it. Alas, unhappy balse, you suffer for the guilt to your mother! O my darling son, to be your mother's grief, and the prey of wild beasts! alas! doomed to be destroyed on the very day of your birth; ill-fated babe, the mournful pledge of our unhappy loves; this was your first day of life, this also must be your last! I was not allowed to shed over you a mother's tears, or offer upon your sepulchre my shora hair. I did not hang over thy lifeless frame, or snatch from thy mouth the cold kisses. My bowels, alas! are made a prey to savage beasts. But I will soon follow by this wound thy infant shade: not long a mother, nor long shall I be called childless. But thou, in vain, alas! thy wretched sister's hope, fail not to gather up the scattered members of thy son; bear them to his fond mother's grave, and unite them with her in the social tomb: let the same urn, though small, contain us both. Live ever mindful of your Canace, and shed some tears over my wound: nor fear to touch the breathless body of one whom you loved. Fulfil these last commands of thy hapless sister; and I will execute the cruel mandates of my unrelenting sire. |
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Medea Iasoni Exul , inops , contempta novo Medea marito Dicit : an a regnis tempora nulla vacant ? At tibi Colchorum , memini , regina vacavi , Ars mea cum peteres ut tibi ferret opem . Tunc quae dispensant mortalia fila sorores Debuerant fusos evoluisse meos . Tum potui Medea mori bene ! quidquid ab illo Produxi vitam tempore , poena fuit . Ei mihi ! cur umquam iuvenalibus acta lacertis Phrixeam petiit Pelias arbor ovem ? Cur umquam Colchi Magnetida vidimus Argo , Turbaque Phasiacam Graia bibistis aquam ? Cur mihi plus aequo flavi placuere capilli Et decor et linguae gratia ficta tuae ? Aut , semel in nostras quoniam nova puppis harenas Venerat audacis attuleratque viros , Isset anhelatos non praemedicatus in ignes Inmemor Aesonides oraque adusta boum ; Semina iecisset totidem quot semina et hostes , Ut caderet cultu cultor ab ipse suo ! Quantum perfidiae tecum , scelerate , perisset , Dempta forent capiti quam mala multa meo ! Est aliqua ingrato meritum exprobrare voluptas . Hac fruar ; haec de te gaudia sola feram . Iussus inexpertam Colchos advertere puppim Intrasti patriae regna beata meae . Hoc illic Medea fui , nova nupta quod hic est ; Quam pater est illi , tam mihi dives erat . Hic Ephyren bimarem , Scythia tenus ille nivosa Omne tenet , Ponti qua plaga laeva iacet . Accipis hospitio iuvenes , Aeeta , Pelasgos , Et premitis pictos , corpora Graia , toros . Tunc ego te vidi , tunc coepi scire , quid esses ; Illa fuit mentis prima ruina meae . Et vidi et perii ; nec notis ignibus arsi , Ardet ut ad magnos pinea taeda deos . Et formosus eras , et me mea fata trahebant ; Abstulerant oculi lumina nostra tui . Perfide , sensisti — quis enim bene celat amorem ? Eminet indicio prodita flamma suo . Dicitur interea tibi lex ut dura ferorum Insolito premeres vomere colla boum . Martis erant tauri plus quam per cornua saevi , Quorum terribilis spiritus ignis erat ; Aere pedes solidi praetentaque naribus aera , Nigra per adflatus haec quoque facta suos . Semina praeterea populos genitura iuberis Spargere devota lata per arva manu , Qui peterent natis secum tua corpora telis ; Illa est agricolae messis iniqua suo . Lumina custodis succumbere nescia somno , Ultimus est aliqua decipere arte labor . Dixerat Aeetes ; maesti consurgitis omnes , Mensaque purpureos deserit alta toros . Quam tibi tunc longe regnum dotale Creusae Et socer et magni nata Creontis erat ! Tristis abis ; oculis abeuntem prosequor udis , Et dixit tenui murmure lingua : 'vale !' Ut positum tetigi thalamo male saucia lectum , Acta est per lacrimas nox mihi , quanta fuit ; Ante oculos taurique meos segetesque nefandae , Ante meos oculos pervigil anguis erat . Hinc amor , hinc timor est ; ipsum timor auget amorem . Mane erat , et thalamo cara recepta soror Disiectamque comas adversaque in ora iacentem Invenit , et lacrimis omnia plena meis . Orat opem Minyis . alter petit , impetrat alter : Aesonio iuveni quod rogat illa , damus . Est nemus et piceis et frondibus ilicis atrum ; Vix illuc radiis solis adire licet . Sunt in eo — fuerant certe — delubra Dianae ; Aurea barbarica stat dea facta manu . Noscis ? an exciderunt mecum loca ? venimus illuc . Orsus es infido sic prior ore loqui : 'Ius tibi et arbitrium nostrae fortuna salutis Tradidit , inque tua est vitaque morsque manu . Perdere posse sat est , siquem iuvet ipsa potestas ; Sed tibi servatus gloria maior ero . Per mala nostra precor , quorum potes esse levamen , Per genus , et numen cuncta videntis avi , Per triplicis vultus arcanaque sacra Dianae , Et si forte aliquos gens habet ista deos — O virgo , miserere mei , miserere meorum ; Effice me meritis tempus in omne tuum ! Quodsi forte virum non dedignare Pelasgum — Sed mihi tam faciles unde meosque deos ? — Spiritus ante meus tenues vanescet in auras Quam thalamo nisi tu nupta sit ulla meo ! Conscia sit Iuno sacris praefecta maritis , Et dea marmorea cuius in aede sumus !' Haec animum — et quota pars haec sunt ! — movere puellae Simplicis , et dextrae dextera iuncta meae . Vidi etiam lacrimas — sua pars et fraudis in illis . Sic cito sum verbis capta puella tuis . Iungis aenipedes inadusto corpore tauros Et solidam iusso vomere findis humum . Arva venenatis pro semine dentibus inples , Nascitur et gladios scutaque miles habens . Ipsa ego , quae dederam medicamina , pallida sedi , Cum vidi subitos arma tenere viros , Donec terrigenae , facinus mirabile , fratres Inter se strictas conseruere manus . Insopor ecce vigil squamis crepitantibus horrens Sibilat et torto pectore verrit humum ! Dotis opes ubi erant ? ubi erat tibi regia coniunx , Quique maris gemini distinet Isthmos aquas ? Illa ego , quae tibi sum nunc denique barbara facta , Nunc tibi sum pauper , nunc tibi visa nocens , Flammea subduxi medicato lumina somno , Et tibi , quae raperes , vellera tuta dedi . Proditus est genitor , regnum patriamque reliqui ; Munus , in exilio quod licet esse , tuli ! Virginitas facta est peregrini praeda latronis ; Optima cum cara matre relicta soror . At non te fugiens sine me , germane , reliqui ! Deficit hoc uno littera nostra loco . Quod facere ausa mea est , non audet scribere dextra . Sic ego , sed tecum , dilaceranda fui . Nec tamen extimui — quid enim post illa timerem ? — Credere me pelago , femina iamque nocens . Numen ubi est ? ubi di ? meritas subeamus in alto , Tu fraudis poenas , credulitatis ego ! Compressos utinam Symplegades elisissent , Nostraque adhaererent ossibus ossa tuis ; Aut nos Scylla rapax canibus mersisset edendos — Debuit ingratis Scylla nocere viris ; Quaeque vomit totidem fluctus totidemque resorbet , Nos quoque Trinacriae supposuisset aquae ! Sospes ad Haemonias victorque reverteris urbes ; Ponitur ad patrios aurea lana deos . Quid referam Peliae natas pietate nocentes Caesaque virginea membra paterna manu ? Ut culpent alii , tibi me laudare necesse est , Pro quo sum totiens esse coacta nocens . Ausus es — o , iusto desunt sua verba dolori ! — Ausus es 'Aesonia ,' dicere , 'cede domo !' Iussa domo cessi natis comitata duobus Et , qui me sequitur semper , amore tui . Ut subito nostras Hymen cantatus ad aures Venit , et accenso lampades igne micant , Tibiaque effundit socialia carmina vobis , At mihi funerea flebiliora tuba , Pertimui , nec adhuc tantum scelus esse putabam ; Sed tamen in toto pectore frigus erat . Turba ruunt et 'Hymen ,' clamant , 'Hymenaee !' frequenter — Quo propior vox haec , hoc mihi peius erat . Diversi flebant servi lacrimasque tegebant — Quis vellet tanti nuntius esse mali ? Me quoque , quidquid erat , potius nescire iuvabat ; Sed tamquam scirem , mens mea tristis erat , Cum minor e pueris (casu studione videndi Constitit ad geminae limina prima foris ) 'Huc modo , mater , adi ! pompam pater ,' inquit , 'Iason Ducit et adiunctos aureus urget equos !' Protinus abscissa planxi mea pectora veste , Tuta nec a digitis ora fuere meis . Ire animus mediae suadebat in agmina turbae Sertaque conpositis demere rapta comis ; Vix me continui , quin dilaniata capillos Clamarem 'meus est !' iniceremque manus . Laese pater , gaude ! Colchi gaudete relicti ! Inferias umbrae fratris habete mei ; Deseror amissis regno patriaque domoque Coniuge , qui nobis omnia solus erat ! Serpentis igitur potui taurosque furentes ; Unum non potui perdomuisse virum , Quaeque feros pepuli doctis medicatibus ignes , Non valeo flammas effugere ipsa meas . Ipsi me cantus herbaeque artesque relinquunt ; Nil dea , nil Hecates sacra potentis agunt . Non mihi grata dies ; noctes vigilantur amarae , Et tener a misero pectore somnus abest . Quae me non possum , potui sopire draconem ; Utilior cuivis quam mihi cura mea est . Quos ego servavi , paelex amplectitur artus , Et nostri fructus illa laboris habet . Forsitan et , stultae dum te iactare maritae Quaeris et iniustis auribus apta loqui , In faciem moresque meos nova crimina fingas . Rideat et vitiis laeta sit illa meis ! Rideat et Tyrio iaceat sublimis in ostro — Flebit et ardores vincet adusta meos ! Dum ferrum flammaeque aderunt sucusque veneni , Hostis Medeae nullus inultus erit ! Quodsi forte preces praecordia ferrea tangunt , Nunc animis audi verba minora meis ! Tam tibi sum supplex , quam tu mihi saepe fuisti , Nec moror ante tuos procubuisse pedes . Si tibi sum vilis , communis respice natos ; Saeviet in partus dira noverca meos . Et nimium similes tibi sunt , et imagine tangor , Et quotiens video , lumina nostra madent . Per superos oro , per avitae lumina flammae , Per meritum et natos , pignora nostra , duos — Redde torum , pro quo tot res insana reliqui ; Adde fidem dictis auxiliumque refer ! Non ego te inploro contra taurosque virosque , Utque tua serpens victa quiescat ope ; Te peto , quem merui , quem nobis ipse dedisti , Cum quo sum pariter facta parente parens . Dos ubi sit , quaeris ? campo numeravimus illo , Qui tibi laturo vellus arandus erat . Aureus ille aries villo spectabilis alto Dos mea , quam , dicam si tibi 'redde !,' neges . Dos mea tu sospes ; dos est mea Graia iuventus ! I nunc , Sisyphias , inprobe , confer opes ! Quod vivis , quod habes nuptam socerumque potentis , Hoc ipsum , ingratus quod potes esse , meum est . Quos equidem actutum — sed quid praedicere poenam Attinet ? ingentis parturit ira minas . Quo feret ira , sequar ! facti fortasse pigebit — Et piget infido consuluisse viro . Viderit ista deus , qui nunc mea pectora versat ! Nescio quid certe mens mea maius agit !
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Medea to Jason WELL I remember that, though queen of Colchis, I found leisure to provide for your safety, when you requested the help of my art. Then, if ever, the Sisters, who measure out the thread of human life, ought to have finished the number of my days. Then might Medea have died honorably. Life ever since has been a series of woes. Alas! why did the Thessalian bark, manned by a troop of resolute youths, sail in quest of the golden fleece? why did Argo come within sight of Colchis, or a Grecian band drink of the water of Phasis? why was I so much pleased with your golden locks, your personal attractions, and the dissembled eloquence of your enchanting tongue? Doubtless, (as a strange ship had arrived on our coast, and landed a set of bold enterprising youths.) ungrateful Jason should have been left to rush, unfortified with spells, upon the glowing nostrils of the fire-breathing bulls, and dare their lofty looks: he should have been left to sow the serpent's teeth, and feel the arms of his numerous foes; that the forward cultivator might thus have fallen by his own harvest. Perjured wretch! how much perfidy had been prevented by your fall! how many heart-piercing griefs might I have escaped! It is some relief to upbraid the ungrateful with the favors which they have received. This I can still enjoy; and it is indeed the only pleasure you have now left me. Commanded by your uncle to sail to Colchis with the unproved ship, you entered the happy kingdom of my native land. There Medea held the same place which your new bride holds here: my father, in wealth and dominion, came not short of her's. He rules over Corinth placed between two seas: my father commands all that part of snowy Scythia, which runs along the left-side of the Euxine sea. Æetes gave a kind and noble reception to the Pelasgian youths, and placed them on richly embroidered couches. It was then I first saw you, and understood who you were; that was the dreadful day of ruin to my quiet and peace of mind. How did I gaze, how did I imbibe the fatal poison, and burn with fires I had not felt before, like a pine-torch when lighted up at the sacrifices of the Gods! You were beautiful and charming, and my unhappy destiny pushed me on; my eyes remained continually fixed upon your's. Base man, you too clearly perceived it; for who was ever discrete enough to hide love? A flame that betrays itself by its own light. In the mean time the law of victory is laid down, that you train to the unusual plough the unbroken necks of the fierce bulls. These bulls, sacred to Mars, were not only terrible by their horns: they breathed out streams of flame. Their feet were guarded with brazen hoofs; plates of brass also covered their nostrils, which were rendered black by their glowing breath. You are farther required to scatter over the wide fields, with devoted hand, seed that will suddenly bring forth a harvest of men, who will attack you with their self-born darts; a crop fatal to the laborer. Your last and greatest toil is, artfully to elude the eyes of the watchful dragon; eyes, unacquainted with the power of sleep. Here Æetes ended. You all rise up sad; the table is removed, and stripped of the purple carpets. Where was then the kingdom you receive as a dowry with Creusa? how little was your father-in-law, or the daughter of mighty Creon then in your thoughts? You left us thoughtful: I followed your departing steps with eyes moistened in tears; and my tongue in a soft accent bade you farewell. When with a heart fatally wounded I had retired to my quiet bed, the whole night was spent in shedding floods of tears. The fierce bulls and threatening crop of armed men stood before my eyes; but most I was haunted by the image of the watchful dragon. On the one side was love, on the other fear: but fear served only to augment my love. It was now morning, when my darling sister entered my chamber, and found me lying upon my face, my hair disheveled, and the bed under me wet with my tears. She entreats me in behalf of the Argonauts: one asks, and another shall reap the fruit: she craves that aid which I freely grant to the young son of Æson. There is a grove where a darksome shade is formed by pitch-trees and leafy oaks; scarcely can the rays of the sun find admittance. Here had long been, and still was, a temple sacred to Diana, with a golden statue of the goddess, the work of a barbarian artist. Perhaps, as you have forgotten me, so have you also the place. Thither we came; when thus you addressed me with your deluding tongue: "Fortune has given you the disposal and command of my lot; my life and death are in your hands. If you glory in the possession of power, it is enough that you can destroy: but to preserve me in danger will do you greater honor. I implore you by my distresses, which your art alone can succour; by your race, and the majesty of your all-seeing grandfather; by the deity and sacred mysteries of the threefold goddess, and whatever other Gods this nation adores; amiable virgin, take pity on me; take pity on my companions, and bind me eternally to you by your good offices! If you disdain not to give up your heart to a Grecian youth, (but why should I flatter myself that the Gods will be so favorable and indulgent?) sooner may my soul vanish into air, than any besides Medea be received a partner of my bed. May Juno, who presides over the marriage-bed, bear witness to this oath, and the goddess in whose marble temple we are." These declarations (and how small a part is this of what you promised?) made too great an impression upon the mind of an innocent credulous maid; and your right-hand was joined to mine. I saw, moreover, your tears: are these too capable of deceit? Thus was I easily betrayed by your enchanting words. You yoked the brazen-footed bulls, unhurt by their flaming breath, and cleft the hard earth with the commanded plough. You sowed the land with the teeth of poisonous serpents instead of seed, and a harvest of soldiers sprang up armed with swords and bucklers. Even I, who secured you by my art, sat pale and trembling, when I saw this sudden crop of men grasp their arms. But at length the earth-born brothers (mournful catastrophe!) turned against one another their ready-armed right-hands. And now, lo the watchful serpent, terrible by his sounding scales, hisses, and sweeps the ground with his winding breast. Where was then your rich dowry? where then your royal spouse, and the Isthmus which divides the circling sea? Even I, Medea, whom you now despise as a barbarian, whom you deem indigent and criminal, forsaken Medea, locked up his fiery orbs in enchanted sleep, and left you the golden fleece a secure and easy prize. I betrayed my father, abandoned my kingdom and country, and fancied that, with you, even exile was some gratification. My virginity became the prey of a foreign ravisher: I left the best of sisters, and a darling mother. Alas! why did I not leave my brother also? Here conscious guilt arrests my hand, and commands me to draw a veil over my crime. My hand refuses to write what it dared to commit. In this manner ought I to have been torn to pieces; but with you, who also deserved the same fate. Nor did I fear, (for what after this could make me afraid?) though a weak woman, and now a guilty wretch, to trust myself to the sea. Where was then the majesty of heaven? where were the Gods by whom we had falsely sworn? why did we not undergo the just punishment, you of your falsehood, and I of my credulity? Oh! that the meeting Symplegades had crushed us into one, and my bones had been made to incorporate with yours; or that devouring Scylla had made us the prey of hungry dogs (for thus ought Scylla to use ungrateful men); or that the gulf which alternately vomits up and drinks in the waves, had overwhelmed us in its circling current! But fate had otherwise decreed; you returned safe and victorious to the Grecian states, and made an offer of the rich fleece to the Gods of your country. Why should I mention the daughters of Pelias, bloody through piety, and the slaughter of a father by the hands of virgins? However others may blame, yet you are bound to commend me, for whose sake I have so often made myself guilty. You had the barbarity, (Oh! words are wanting to equal my grief,) you had the barbarity to forbid me the house of your father Æson. Compelled, I left the house, accompanied only by my two sons, and by that affection for you which never ceases to haunt me. Soon the new nuptial songs reached my ears, and the torches shone with the spreading flame: the flute also struck off the social lines, to me more mournful than the funeral trumpet. I was frighted to distraction, nor could yet fancy you so completely base: but a coldness spread itself over all my breast. The rabble shouted, and invoked Hymen; they redoubled their cries, and, as they approached, the word seemed more dreadful. The servants wept in corners, and each strove to hide his tears: for who among them would be the messenger of so great a calamity? I was also better pleased to be ignorant of whatever passed: but still my mind, by some secret foresight, foreboded my misfortune. When my younger boy, by my command, and moved by curiosity, stood at the entrance of the double gate, Look, said he, mother, my father Jason heads the procession, and, arrayed in vestments of gold, urges the harnessed horses. I then tore my garments, and beat my breast; nor was my face safe from the impression of my nails. My rage urged me to rush into the midst of the crowd, and tear the garlands from the well-dressed locks. Scarcely could I restrain myself from appearing with my hair torn, taking hold of him, and claiming him as mine. Injured father, forsaken Colchians, now rejoice, and be satisfied with the sacrifice made to the manes of my murdered brother. I am deserted by my husband, after abandoning my kingdom, country, and home. He was all to me! Have I then been able to tame the serpents and raging bulls, and yet cannot vanquish a single man? Could I by magic arts repress the fire-breathing bulls, and not conquer the flames of love that rage in my own breast? Have my enchantments, herbs, and skill, abandoned me? Can Diana and the rites of powerful Hecate yield no relief? Day is odious to me; the nights are full of cruel bitterness; no soft slumbers soothe my anxious breast. I, who can do nothing to myself, could yet lull to rest the dragon; my art is useful to every one but myself. A rival embraces those limbs which I preserved; she now enjoys the fruit of my toil. Perhaps too, while you endeavour to recommend yourself to your silly spouse, and say what may be agreeable to her partial ears, you unjustly ridicule my face and manners. She stupidly laughs, and rejoices at my defects. Laugh on, proud fair, and pride yourself in your purple bed; soon you shall mourn, and burn with flames more fierce than mine. While fire, sword, and poisons, may be had, no enemy of Medea shall escape her resentment. Yet if prayers are able to touch your obdurate heart, hear me now descend to requests below my usual greatness of soul. I address you with the same submission with which you have often applied to me; nor delay to throw myself at your feet. If I am now despicable to you, yet think of your children, those common pledges of our former love. Shall my offspring be exposed to the rage of a cruel step-mother? Alas! they too strongly bear your likeness, and strike me with the resemblance: as often as I look at them, my eyes swim in tears. I implore you by the Gods above, by the splendor of my grand-father's chariot, by the love I always bore you, and your two sons, those dear pledges of what I once was, restore me to that bed, for which I have made so many sacrifices; make good your promises, and give me relief. I ask not your aid against the bulls, and earth-born heroes, or to lull to rest the watchful dragon: I demand you whom I have dearly purchased, who yourself made a surrender of your heart to me; by whom I likewise have been made a mother. If you enquire for my dowry, remember the field that was to be ploughed up before you could carry off the golden fleece. My dowry is that golden ram, beautiful by his rich wool; which if I should demand back, would you ever consent? I bring for a dowry your own safety, and that of all the Grecian youths. Go now, perjured man, and boast the ill-gotten wealth of Sisyphus. To me you owe your life, that you have a spouse, a powerful father-in-law, or even that you can be ungrateful. But hold: I will quickly be revenged. Yet what avails it to threaten before-hand? Rage drives me upon the deepest destruction. I will yield to all the madness of rage, however I may afterwards repent. I even now repent the aid I granted to a perfidious wretch. The God who rages in my breast can alone penetrate these designs: I only know that my mind conceives something vast and worthy of myself. |
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Laodamia Protesilao Mittit et optat amans , quo mittitur , ire salutem Haemonis Haemonio Laodamia viro . Aulide te fama est vento retinente morari . At me cum fugeres , hic ubi ventus erat ? Tum freta debuerant vestris obsistere remis ; Illud erat saevis utile tempus aquis . Oscula plura viro mandataque plura dedissem ; Et sunt quae volui dicere multa tibi . Raptus es hinc praeceps , et qui tua vela vocaret , Quem cuperent nautae , non ego , ventus erat ; Ventus erat nautis aptus , non aptus amanti . Solvor ab amplexu , Protesilae , tuo , Linguaque mandantis verba inperfecta reliquit ; Vix illud potui dicere triste 'vale !' Incubuit Boreas abreptaque vela tetendit , Iamque meus longe Protesilaus erat . Dum potui spectare virum , spectare iuvabat , Sumque tuos oculos usque secuta meis ; Ut te non poteram , poteram tua vela videre , Vela diu vultus detinuere meos . At postquam nec te nec vela fugacia vidi , Et quod spectarem nil nisi pontus erat , Lux quoque tecum abiit , tenebrisque exanguis obortis Succiduo dicor procubuisse genu . Vix socer Iphiclus , vix me grandaevus Acastus , Vix mater gelida maesta refecit aqua ; Officium fecere pium , sed inutile nobis . Indignor miserae non licuisse mori ! Ut rediit animus , pariter rediere dolores . Pectora legitimus casta momordit amor . Nec mihi pectendos cura est praebere capillos , Nec libet aurata corpora veste tegi . Ut quas pampinea tetigisse Bicorniger hasta , Creditur , huc illuc , qua furor egit , eo . Conveniunt matres Phylaceides et mihi clamant : 'Indue regales , Laudamia , sinus !' Scilicet ipsa geram saturatas murice lanas , Bella sub Iliacis moenibus ille geret ? Ipsa comas pectar , galea caput ille premetur ? Ipsa novas vestes , dura vir arma feret ? Qua possum , squalore tuos imitata labores Dicar , et haec belli tempora tristis agam . Dyspari Priamide , damno formose tuorum , Tam sis hostis iners , quam malus hospes eras ! Aut te Taenariae faciem culpasse maritae , Aut illi vellem displicuisse tuam ! Tu , qui pro rapta nimium , Menelae , laboras , Ei mihi , quam multis flebilis ultor eris ! Di , precor , a nobis omen removete sinistrum , Et sua det Reduci vir meus arma Iovi ! Sed timeo , quotiens subiit miserabile bellum ; More nivis lacrimae sole madentis eunt . Ilion et Tenedos Simoisque et Xanthus et Ide Nomina sunt ipso paene timenda sono . Nec rapere ausurus , nisi se defendere posset , Hospes erat ; vires noverat ille suas . Venerat , ut fama est , multo spectabilis auro Quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes , Classe virisque potens , per quae fera bella geruntur — Et sequitur regni pars quotacumque sui ? His ego te victam , consors Ledaea gemellis , Suspicor ; haec Danais posse nocere puto . Hectora , quisquis is est , si sum tibi cura , caveto ; Signatum memori pectore nomen habe ! Hunc ubi vitaris , alios vitare memento Et multos illic Hectoras esse puta ; Et facito dicas , quotiens pugnare parabis : 'Parcere me iussit Laodamia sibi .' Si cadere Argolico fas est sub milite Troiam , Te quoque non ullum vulnus habente cadet . Pugnet et adversos tendat Menelaus in hostis ; Hostibus e mediis nupta petenda viro est . Causa tua est dispar ; tu tantum vivere pugna , Inque pios dominae posse redire sinus . Parcite , Dardanidae , de tot , precor , hostibus uni , Ne meus ex illo corpore sanguis eat ! Non est quem deceat nudo concurrere ferro , Saevaque in oppositos pectora ferre viros ; Fortius ille potest multo , quam pugnat , amare . Bella gerant alii ; Protesilaus amet ! Nunc fateor — volui revocare , animusque ferebat ; Substitit auspicii lingua timore mali . Cum foribus velles ad Troiam exire paternis , Pes tuus offenso limine signa dedit . Ut vidi , ingemui , tacitoque in pectore dixi : 'Signa reversuri sint , precor , ista viri !' Haec tibi nunc refero , ne sis animosus in armis ; Fac , meus in ventos hic timor omnis eat ! Sors quoque nescio quem fato designat iniquo , Qui primus Danaum Troada tangat humum . Infelix , quae prima virum lugebit ademptum ! Di faciant , ne tu strenuus esse velis ! Inter mille rates tua sit millensima puppis , Iamque fatigatas ultima verset aquas ! Hoc quoque praemoneo : de nave novissimus exi ; Non est , quo properas , terra paterna tibi . Cum venies , remoque move veloque carinam Inque tuo celerem litore siste gradum ! Sive latet Phoebus seu terris altior exstat , Tu mihi luce celer , tu mihi nocte veni , Nocte tamen quam luce magis — nox grata puellis Quarum suppositus colla lacertus habet . Aucupor in lecto mendaces caelibe somnos ; Dum careo veris gaudia falsa iuvant . Sed tua cur nobis pallens occurrit imago ? Cur venit a labris multa querela tuis ? Excutior somno simulacraque noctis adoro ; Nulla caret fumo Thessalis ara meo ; Tura damus lacrimamque super , qua sparsa relucet , Ut solet adfuso surgere flamma mero . Quando ego , te reducem cupidis amplexa lacertis , Languida laetitia solvar ab ipsa mea ? Quando erit , ut lecto mecum bene iunctus in uno Militiae referas splendida facta tuae ? Quae mihi dum referes , quamvis audire iuvabit , Multa tamen capies oscula , multa dabis . Semper in his apte narrantia verba resistunt ; Promptior est dulci lingua referre mora . Sed cum Troia subit , subeunt ventique fretumque ; Spes bona sollicito victa timore cadit . Hoc quoque , quod venti prohibent exire carinas , Me movet — invitis ire paratis aquis . Quis velit in patriam vento prohibente reverti ? A patria pelago vela vetante datis ! Ipse suam non praebet iter Neptunus ad urbem . Quo ruitis ? vestras quisque redite domos ! Quo ruitis , Danai ? ventos audite vetantis ! Non subiti casus , numinis ista mora est . Quid petitur tanto nisi turpis adultera bello ? Dum licet , Inachiae vertite vela rates ! Sed quid ago ? revoco ? revocaminis omen abesto , Blandaque conpositas aura secundet aquas ! Troasin invideo , quae si lacrimosa suorum Funera conspicient , nec procul hostis erit , Ipsa suis manibus forti nova nupta marito Inponet galeam Dardanaque arma dabit . Arma dabit , dumque arma dabit , simul oscula sumet — Hoc genus officii dulce duobus erit — Producetque virum , dabit et mandata reverti Et dicet : 'referas ista fac arma Iovi !' Ille ferens dominae mandata recentia secum Pugnabit caute respicietque domum . Exuet haec reduci clipeum galeamque resolvet , Excipietque suo corpora lassa sinu . Nos sumus incertae ; nos anxius omnia cogit , Quae possunt fieri , facta putare timor . Dum tamen arma geres diverso miles in orbe , Quae referat vultus est mihi cera tuos ; Illi blanditias , illi tibi debita verba Dicimus , amplexus accipit illa meos . Crede mihi , plus est , quam quod videatur , imago ; Adde sonum cerae , Protesilaus erit . Hanc specto teneoque sinu pro coniuge vero , Et , tamquam possit verba referre , queror . Per reditus corpusque tuum , mea numina , iuro , Perque pares animi coniugiique faces , Me tibi venturam comitem , quocumque vocaris , Sive — quod heu ! timeo — sive superstes eris . Ultima mandato claudetur epistula parvo : Si tibi cura mei , sit tibi cura tui !
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Laodamia to Protesilaus LAODAMIA of Thessaly wishes health to her Thessalian husband, and ardently prays that the Gods may convey this health whither she sends it. It is said that you are detained at Aulis by contrary winds; ah! cruel winds, where were ye when he first parted from me? It was then the seas ought to have opposed themselves to your oars: that was the proper season for the waves to rage. I would nave given him many kisses, many admonitions; for I had an abundance of admonitions to give. You were suddenly hurried from me; an inviting gale called forth the sails, a gale grateful to the mariners, not to me; a gale that exactly suited their views, but not those of an unhappy lover. I was torn from the embraces of my dear Protesilaus; my faltering tongue gave you its last charge in broken words, and scarcely was I able to utter the mournful adieu. The north-wind sprang up, and stretched the swelling sails. My Protesilaus was soon carried far from me. While my husband remained in sight, I found a pleasure in looking at him, and incessantly pursued your eyes with mine. Even after I could no longer see you, I still could behold your sails: the sails kept my eyes long fixed upon them. But when I could no more perceive either you or the flying sails, and nothing appeared to my aching sight beside the sea, light fled also with you; a darkness hung round me, nor were my tottering knees longer able to support my pale frame. My father-in-law Iphiclus, the good old Acastus, and my sorrowful mother, hardly recovered me by sprinkling my face with cold water. They were taken up in a kind good-natured office, but ungrateful to me, who mourn that I was not suffered to finish a wretched life. With my senses, my grief also returned; and a just love preyed upon my chaste heart. I now neg- lect the care of my hanging locks, and refuse to adorn myself with cloth of gold. I wander where-ever my madness urges me, like those whom Bacchus is supposed to have touched with his rod. The Thessalian matrons flock round me. Put on, they cry, Laodamia, the royal robes. Shall I shine in robes of Tyrian purple, and my husband be engaged in a bloody war under the walls of Troy? Shall I adorn my hair, while his head is loaded with a helmet? or strut in new apparel, while he bears about a coat of mail? I will at least be said to copy your hardships in the negligence of my dress, and pass the time of this fatal war in sadness. O Paris of the house of Priam, beautiful to the destruction of your country, may you prove as cowardly an enemy, as you were a perfidious guest. How could I wish that you had disliked the countenance of the Lacedæmonian queen, or that she had found less cause to admire yours! And you, Menelaus, who shew too great anxiety about one who so easily consented to be ravished from you, how fatal an avenger will you prove to many! Avert, ye Gods, the dire omen from me; and grant that my husband may consecrate his spoils to Jupiter, the author of his safe return! Yet I am full of fears; and, as often as I think of the horrible war, the tears drop from me like snow melted by the sun. Ilion, and Tenedos, and Simois, and Xanthus, and Ida, are names which, by their very sound, strike me with terror. A stranger would not have ventured to carry her away, had he not known himself able to defend the prize: doubtless, he was well acquainted with his own strength. He came, as fame reports, adorned with gold and jewels, and made a show in his person of the riches of Phrygia. He was backed with ships and armed men, by which wars are carried on; and yet how small a part of the population of his country followed him! It was by these, I suspect, daughter of Leda, and sister to the famous twins, that your heart was gained: these, I fear, may prove fatal to the Greeks. I have a strong dread of some one named Hector. Hector, Paris was wont to say, knew how to support a war with bloody rage. Beware of this Hector, whoever he is, if you retain any regard for me; let this name be deeply engraven in your mindful breast. When you shun him, remember also to shun others: fancy that there are many Hectors within those walls; and do not fail to say within yourself, as often as you prepare for battle, Laodamia enjoined me to take care of myself for her sake. If fate has ordained that Troy shall fall by the hand of the Greeks, may it fall without your receiving any injury. Let Menelaus fight, and rush among the thickest ranks of the foe, that he may recover from Paris what Paris unjustly ravished from him: let him force his way through them; and, as he triumphs in a better cause, triumph also by arms, and recover his wife from amidst his enemies. The case is different with you; you must fight that you may live, and return safe to your wife's tender caresses. Spare, O Trojans, this one out of so many enemies, and spill not my blood by the wounds you give to him. He is not formed to engage cruel foes in close fight, or march up with an undaunted breast to their foremost ranks. He acquits himself better in the combats of love. Let others engage in bloody wars; but let Protesilaus fight under the banners of Cupid. Now I own, that I would gladly have called you back; my heart strongly inclined me to it; but my tongue was silent from the fear of giving a bad omen. When you set out for Troy from your father's gate, your foot gave a presage by striking against the threshold. When I saw it I groaned, and said quietly to myself, May the Gods grant that this may be a presage of my husband's safe return. These circumstances I now relate to you, that you may not be too forward in the field, but by your caution may make all my fears vanish in empty air. Fortune hath also doomed some one to an untimely fate, who shall, first of the Greeks, set his foot upon Trojan ground. Unhappy she, fated first to deplore her lost lord! Grant, O ye Gods, that Protesilaus' courage may then fail! May thy ship be the last of a thousand, and in the rear of all the fleet plough the foaming deep. I farther admonish you, that you be the last to leave the ship: the shore to which you hasten is not your native soil. But, when you return, urge the bark with sail and oars, nor delay a moment to set foot upon the coast of your own country. Whether Phœbus hides his beams, or high in his chariot overlooks the earth, both by day and by night you fill my mind with grief and anxiety: yet the mournful image haunts me more at night than during the day: night is grateful to those whose necks are environed by clasping arms. I catch at empty dreams in a forlorn bed, and must put up with false joys, because the true have fled. But why does your pale shadow stand before me? Why do I incessantly hear you uttering mournful complaints? I start from my sleep, and adore the nightly powers. The Thessalian altars cease not to smoke with sacrifices for your sake. Incense is offered, and tears are shed over it in abundance; with which the flame burns bright, as if sprinkled with wine. When shall I again clasp you in my longing arms, and be elate with joy in your embraces? When, happily united with you in the same bed, shall I hear you recount your noble deeds in war? Though I shall be pleased with the recital, yet will your relation be often interrupted by our mutual kisses. These always occasion an agreeable pause in discourse: the tongue is rendered more prompt by such alluring delays. But when I think of Troy, of the winds, and the sea, flattering hopes give way to anxious fears. I am alarmed that your fleet is detained by adverse winds. How can you think of sailing when the sea forbids? What man returns to his own country when the winds are against him? why then do you spread your sails to leave it, when the sea forbids? Neptune himself stops up the way to his own city. Whither hurry you so rashly? Let each return to his own home. Whither, I say, O ye Greeks, do you hurry so rashly? Attend to the voice of the forbidding winds. This delay is no work of blind chance; it comes from the Gods. What do you intend by this mighty war, but to regain a base adulteress? Return, ye Grecian ships, while it yet may be done with honor. But why do I thus call you back? Forbid, ye Gods, every bad omen; and may an inviting gale bear you through the quiet waves. How I envy the lot of the Trojan wives; for, if they are doomed to see the mournful funerals of their husbands, the enemy is however not far off. The youthful bride will with her own hand fix the helmet upon the head of her gallant spouse, and buckle on his shining armour. She will buckle on his armour, and, as she performs the task, often snatch a kiss. This sportive office will be grateful to both. She will partly attend him in his march, affectionately enjoin him to return, and advise him to caution, that he may triumph, and dedicate his arms to Jupiter. He, bearing in mind the fresh injunctions of his beloved spouse, will fight with due care of himself, and think of her whom he has left at home. At his return, she will take from him his shield, and unbuckle the ponderous helmet, while he reclines his wearied breast upon her soft bosom. Unhappy, we are racked with uncertainty; an anxious fear makes us apt to fancy you surrounded with a thousand dangers. Yet while you bear armour, and are fighting in remote lands, I take a pleasure in contemplating the wax which exhibits your likeness. As if you were present, I make use of the softest expressions, and address it in words due only to my Protesilaus: I even embrace and caress it. Surely it must be so: this image is more than what it seems. Add speech to the statue, and it will be my Protesilaus himself. My eyes are incessantly fixed upon it; I press it to my bosom as if it were indeed my husband, and pour out my complaints to it, vainly hoping for an answer. I swear by yourself and your return, so dear to me above all things; by the nuptial torch, and that glowing heart which is only yours; by your beloved head, which, O ye propitious Gods, restore to me unhurt, and give me to see at length venerable with grey hairs; that I am ready to fly whithersoever you call me, and will readily share your fate, whether that should happen which, alas! I too much fear, or the Gods should graciously preserve you. Permit me to conclude my epistle with a small request: If you have yet any love for me, be sure to show it in the care you take of yourself. |
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Hypermestra Lynceo Mittit Hypermestra de tot modo fratribus uni — Cetera nuptarum crimine turba iacet . Clausa domo teneor gravibusque coercita vinclis ; Est mihi supplicii causa fuisse piam . Quod manus extimuit iugulo demittere ferrum , Sum rea ; laudarer , si scelus ausa forem . Esse ream praestat , quam sic placuisse parenti ; Non piget inmunes caedis habere manus . Me pater igne licet , quem non violavimus , urat , Quaeque aderant sacris , tendat in ora faces ; Aut illo iugulet , quem non bene tradidit ensem , Ut , qua non cecidit vir nece , nupta cadam — Non tamen , ut dicant morientia 'paenitet !' ora , Efficiet . non est , quam piget esse , pia . Paeniteat sceleris Danaum saevasque sorores ; Hic solet eventus facta nefanda sequi . Cor pavet admonitu temeratae sanguine noctis , Et subitus dextrae praepedit ossa tremor . Quam tu caede putes fungi potuisse mariti , Scribere de facta non sibi caede timet ! Sed tamen experiar . modo facta crepuscula terris ; Ultima pars lucis primaque noctis erat . Ducimur Inachides magni sub tecta Pelasgi , Et socer armatas accipit ipse nurus . Undique conlucent praecinctae lampades auro ; Dantur in invitos inpia tura focos ; Vulgus 'Hymen , Hymenaee !' vocant . fugit ille vocantis ; Ipsa Iovis coniunx cessit ab urbe sua ! Ecce , mero dubii , comitum clamore frequentes , Flore novo madidas inpediente comas , In thalamos laeti — thalamos , sua busta ! — feruntur Strataque corporibus funere digna premunt . Iamque cibo vinoque graves somnoque iacebant , Securumque quies alta per Argos erat — Circum me gemitus morientum audire videbar ; Et tamen audibam , quodque verebar erat . Sanguis abit , mentemque calor corpusque relinquit , Inque novo iacui frigida facta toro . Ut leni Zephyro graciles vibrantur aristae , Frigida populeas ut quatit aura comas , Aut sic , aut etiam tremui magis . ipse iacebas , Quemque tibi dederant vina , soporis eras . Excussere metum violenti iussa parentis ; Erigor et capio tela tremente manu . Non ego falsa loquar : ter acutum sustulit ensem , Ter male sublato reccidit ense manus . Admovi iugulo — sine me tibi vera fateri ! — Admovi iugulo tela paterna tuo ; Sed timor et pietas crudelibus obstitit ausis , Castaque mandatum dextra refugit opus . Purpureos laniata sinus , laniata capillos Exiguo dixi talia verba sono : 'Saevus , Hypermestra , pater est tibi ; iussa parentis Effice ; germanis sit comes iste suis ! Femina sum et virgo , natura mitis et annis ; Non faciunt molles ad fera tela manus . Quin age , dumque iacet , fortis imitare sorores — Credibile est caesos omnibus esse viros ! Si manus haec aliquam posset committere caedem , Morte foret dominae sanguinolenta suae . Hanc meruere necem patruelia regna tenendo ; Cum sene nos inopi turba vagamur inops . Finge viros meruisse mori — quid fecimus ipsae ? Quo mihi commisso non licet esse piae ? Quid mihi cum ferro ? quo bellica tela puellae ? Aptior est digitis lana colusque meis .' Haec ego ; dumque queror , lacrimae sua verba sequuntur Deque meis oculis in tua membra cadunt . Dum petis amplexus sopitaque bracchia iactas , Paene manus telo saucia facta tua est . Iamque patrem famulosque patris lucemque timebam Expulerunt somnos haec mea dicta tuos : 'Surge age , Belide , de tot modo fratribus unus ! Nox tibi , ni properas , ista perennis erit !' Territus exsurgis ; fugit omnis inertia somni ; Adspicis in timida fortia tela manu . Quaerenti causam 'dum nox sinit , effuge !' dixi . Dum nox atra sinit , tu fugis , ipsa moror . Mane erat , et Danaus generos ex caede iacentis Dinumerat . summae criminis unus abes . Fert male cognatae iacturam mortis in uno Et queritur facti sanguinis esse parum . Abstrahor a patriis pedibus , raptamque capillis — Haec meruit pietas praemia ! — carcer habet . Scilicet ex illo Iunonia permanet ira , Cum bos ex homine est , ex bove facta dea . At satis est poenae teneram mugisse puellam Nec , modo formosam , posse placere Iovi . Adstitit in ripa liquidi nova vacca parentis , Cornuaque in patriis non sua vidit aquis , Conatoque queri mugitus edidit ore Territaque est forma , territa voce sua . Quid furis , infelix ? quid te miraris in umbra ? Quid numeras factos ad nova membra pedes ? Illa Iovis magni paelex metuenda sorori Fronde levas nimiam caespitibusque famem , Fonte bibis spectasque tuam stupefacta figuram Et , te ne feriant , quae geris , arma , times , Quaeque modo , ut posses etiam Iove digna videri , Dives eras , nuda nuda recumbis humo . Per mare , per terras cognataque flumina curris ; Dat mare , dant amnes , dat tibi terra viam . Quae tibi causa fugae ? quid tu freta longa pererras ? Non poteris vultus effugere ipsa tuos . Inachi , quo properas ? eadem sequerisque fugisque ; Tu tibi dux comiti , tu comes ipsa duci . Per septem Nilus portus emissus in aequor Exuit insana paelicis ora bove . Ultima quid refero , quorum mihi cana senectus Auctor ? dant anni , quod querar , ecce , mei . Bella pater patruusque gerunt ; regnoque domoque Pellimur ; eiectos ultimus orbis habet . De fratrum populo pars exiguissima restat . Quique dati leto , quaeque dedere , fleo ; Nam mihi quot fratres , totidem periere sorores . Accipiat lacrimas utraque turba meas ! En , ego , quod vivis , poenae crucianda reservor ; Quid fiet sonti , cum rea laudis agar Et consanguineae quondam centensima turbae Infelix uno fratre manente cadam ? At tu , siqua piae , Lynceu , tibi cura sororis , Quaeque tibi tribui munera , dignus habes , Vel fer opem , vel dede neci defunctaque vita Corpora furtivis insuper adde rogis , Et sepeli lacrimis perfusa fidelibus ossa , Sculptaque sint titulo nostra sepulcra brevi : 'Exul Hypermestra , pretium pietatis iniquum , Quam mortem fratri depulit , ipsa tulit .' Scribere plura libet , sed pondere lapsa catenae Est manus , et vires subtrahit ipse timor .
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Hypermnestra to Lynceus HYPERMNESTRA sends to the only survivor of so many brothers: the rest have all perished by the crime of their wives. I am closely confined, and loaded with a weight of chains. My piety is the sole cause of my punishment. I am deemed guilty, because my hand trembled to urge the sword to my husband's throat. Had I dared to commit the bloody deed, I should have been extolled. It is better to be thus deemed guilty, than please a father by an act of barbarity. I can never repent that my hands are unstained withmurder. Should my father torture me with the flames that I have not dared to violate, or throw in my face the torches used at the nuptial rites; should be pierce me with the very sword which he gave me for an inhuman purpose, and destroy the wife by the death from which she saved her husband; yet would all his cruelty be insufficient to make my dying lips own repentance: Hypermnestra is not one who will repent of her piety. Let Danaus and my bloody sisters testify penitence for their wickedness; this usually follows deeds of guilt. My heart sickens at the remembrance of that bloody night; and a sudden trembling enervates the joints of my right hand. That hand which was thought strong enough to engage in the murder of a husband, even dreads to write of a murder that it did not commit; yet will I attempt to describe the horrid scene. Twilight had overspread the earth; it was about the close of day, and night hastened on: we, the descendants of Inachus, are led to the palace of the great Pelasgus; and a father-in-law receives, into his house, daughters armed for the destruction of their husbands. Lamps adorned with gold shine through all the apartments, and impious incense is offered to the unwilling gods. The people invoke Hymen; but Hymen neglects their call: even the wife of Jove forsook her beloved city. The bridegrooms made their appearance, high in wine, and enlivened by the acclamations of their attendants; their anointed heads were adorned with garlands of flowers: they entered their bed-chambers (chambers doomed to be their graves), and reposed their limbs on beds fitter for their funeral piles. Thus they lay overcome with food, wine, and sleep; and a dead silence reigned in unsuspecting Argos. I seemed to hear around me the groans of dying men; I indeed heard them, and it was really as I feared. At this the blood forsook my limbs, the vital heat departed, and a coldness spread itself over all my joints. As the bending reeds are shaken by the mild zephyrs, or the rough northern blasts agitate the poplar leaves; a like, or more violent shaking seised me. You lay quiet, lulled to rest by the sleepy draught I had given. The commands of a violent father had banished fear. I started up, and seised with a trembling hand the deadly sword. Why should I deceive? Thrice I took hold of the pointed steel, and thrice my feeble hand dropped the hated load. I aimed at your throat; blame me not if I acknowlege the truth: I aimed at your throat the blade I had received of my father. But fear and piety opposed the bloody deed; and my blameless right hand refused the hated task. I tore my purple garments, I tore my hair, and with a faint voice uttered this mournful complaint: "A cruel father you have, Hypermnestra; think of executing his commands, and make Lynceus also a companion to his brothers. I am a woman and a virgin, mild both by nature and years; these gentle hands are unfit to wield the fatal steel: but take courage, and, while he lies defenceless, imitate the bravery of your resolute sisters; it is very probable that, ere now, all their husbands are slain. Alas! if this hand could perpetrate a cruel murder, it must first be dyed in the blood of its owner. How can they deserve death by possessing their uncle's realms, which yet must have been given to foreign sons-in-law? Even if our husbands have deserved death, what have we done? Why am I urged to a crime, which, if committed, robs me of my claim to piety? What have I to do with a drawn sword? Why are warlike weapons put into the hands of a girl? A spindle and distaff better suit these fingers." These things I revolved with myself; and, as I complained, the mournful words were accompanied with tears, which, gently falling from my eyes, bedewed your naked limbs. While you sought to embrace me, and half-awake stretched your clasping arms, your hand was almost wounded by the drawn sword. And now, I began to dread my father, the guards, and the approaching light; when these my words roused you from sleep: Rise speedily, grandson of Belus, now the only survivor of so many brothers; unless you are quick in escaping, this is fated to be your eternal night. You start up in a fright; the fetters of sleep are all loosened, and you behold in my hand the pointed weapon. As you ask the cause; Fly, interrupted I, while night permits. You escape, favored by the darkness of the night; while I remain. And now, morning coming on, Danaus numbers over his slaughtered sons; one only was wanting to complete the bloody crime. He storms at his disappointment in the death of a single kinsman, and complains that too little blood had been shed. I am torn from my father as I embrace his knees, and dragged by the hair to prison. Is this the due reward of my piety? So it is that Juno's resentment has ever pursued our race, since Jove transformed Io into a cow, and the cow into a goddess. But was it not sufficient punishment for the unhappy maid to lose her natural form, and, stripped of her beauty, be no longer able to please the almighty Jove? She stood amazed at her new shape, upon the banks of her flowing parent; and beheld, in this paternal mirror, the unusual horns. Striving to complain, her mouth was filled with lowings; and she was equally terrified at her form and voice. Unhappy maid, why this mad rage? Why do you wonder at your own shadow? Why do you number your feet formed to new joints? This beauteous rival, once dreaded by the sister of almighty Jove, now allays her raging hunger with leaves and grass: she drinks of the running stream, and is astonished to behold her own shape; she even trembles at the arms she wears, and thinks them aimed against herself. You, lately so rich as to be deemed worthy even of almighty Jove, now lie naked and defenceless in the unsheltered fields. You wildly run through the sea, over lands, and through kindred rivers. Even seas, lands and rivers, permit your wanderings. What is the cause of your flight? Why, Io, do you thus traverse the spacious main? It is impossible to fly from your own shadow. Whither, daughter of Inachus, do you run? It is the same individual who flies and who pursues; you lead, and at the same time follow the leader. The Nile, which pours into the ocean through seven floodgates, restored to her former shape this beloved of Jove. But why should I mention remote times, and accounts for which I am beholden to old age? Even the present years afford ground of complaint. My father and uncle are at war: we are driven from our kingdom and home, and wander exiles on earth's remotest verge. My savage uncle singly possesses the throne and sceptre; we, a destitute crowd, follow, disconsolate, a helpless old man. You only (how small a part!) remain of a whole nation of brothers. I mourn both for those who perished, and those who gave the fatal stroke. I have not only lost a multitude of brothers, but also a like number of sisters; and both losses equally demand my tears. Lo, even I am reserved to a cruel punishment, because I saved your life! What fate is left for the guilty, when I, who merit only praise, am thus accused? And must I, once the hundredth of a kindred tribe, suffer death for saving one of so many brothers? But, my dear Lynceus, if you have any regard to the piety of your sister, or any remembrance of her love, and the life she gave you, help me in this extremity; or, if death should set me free before you can arrive, bear privately my breathless frame to the funeral pile, and sprinkle my ashes with unfeigned tears. When you have faithfully performed the last obsequies, engrave upon my tomb this short inscription: Hypermnestra, an unhappy exile, was, as a reward for her piety, unjustly doomed to that death from which she had saved her brother. I wish to write more; but my hand fails, disabled by a weight of chains; and ill-boding fears deprive me of the power of reflection. |
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Sappho Phaoni Ecquid , ut adspecta est studiosae littera dextrae , Protinus est oculis cognita nostra tuis — An , nisi legisses auctoris nomina Sapphus , Hoc breve nescires unde movetur opus ? Forsitan et quare mea sint alterna requiras Carmina , cum lyricis sim magis apta modis . Flendus amor meus est — elegiae flebile carmen ; Non facit ad lacrimas barbitos ulla meas . Uror , ut indomitis ignem exercentibus Euris Fertilis accensis messibus ardet ager . Arva , Phaon , celebras diversa Typhoidos Aetnae ; Me calor Aetnaeo non minor igne tenet . Nec mihi , dispositis quae iungam carmina nervis , Proveniunt ; vacuae carmina mentis opus ! Nec me Pyrrhiades Methymniadesve puellae , Nec me Lesbiadum cetera turba iuvant . Vilis Anactorie , vilis mihi candida Cydro ; Non oculis grata est Atthis , ut ante , meis , Atque aliae centum , quas hic sine crimine amavi ; Inprobe , multarum quod fuit , unus habes . Est in te facies , sunt apti lusibus anni — O facies oculis insidiosa meis ! Sume fidem et pharetram — fies manifestus Apollo ; Accedant capiti cornua — Bacchus eris ! Et Phoebus Daphnen , et Cnosida Bacchus amavit , Nec norat lyricos illa vel illa modos ; At mihi Pegasides blandissima carmina dictant ; Iam canitur toto nomen in orbe meum . Nec plus Alcaeus , consors patriaeque lyraeque , Laudis habet , quamvis grandius ille sonet . Si mihi difficilis formam natura negavit , Ingenio formae damna repende meo . Sim brevis , at nomen , quod terras inpleat omnes , Est mihi ; mensuram nominis ipsa fero . Candida si non sum , placuit Cepheia Perseo Andromede , patriae fusca colore suae . Et variis albae iunguntur saepe columbae , Et niger a viridi turtur amatur ave . Si , nisi quae facie poterit te digna videri , Nulla futura tua est , nulla futura tua est . At mea cum legerem , sat iam formosa videbar ; Unam iurabas usque decere loqui . Cantabam , memini — meminerunt omnia amantes — Oscula cantanti tu mihi rapta dabas . Haec quoque laudabas , omnique a parte placebam — Sed tum praecipue , cum fit amoris opus . Tunc te plus solito lascivia nostra iuvabat , Crebraque mobilitas aptaque verba ioco , Et quod , ubi amborum fuerat confusa voluptas , Plurimus in lasso corpore languor erat . Nunc tibi Sicelides veniunt nova praeda puellae . Quid mihi cum Lesbo ? Sicelis esse volo . O vos erronem tellure remittite vestra , Nisiades matres Nisiadesque nurus , Nec vos decipiant blandae mendacia linguae ! Quae dicit vobis , dixerat ante mihi . Tu quoque , quae montes celebras , Erycina , Sicanos — Nam tua sum — vati consule , diva , tuae ! An gravis inceptum peragit fortuna tenorem Et manet in cursu semper acerba suo ? Sex mihi natales ierant , cum lecta parentis Ante diem lacrimas ossa bibere meas . Arsit iners frater meretricis captus amore Mixtaque cum turpi damna pudore tulit ; Factus inops agili peragit freta caerula remo , Quasque male amisit , nunc male quaerit opes . Me quoque , quod monui bene multa fideliter , odit ; Hoc mihi libertas , hoc pia lingua dedit . Et tamquam desint , quae me sine fine fatigent , Accumulat curas filia parva meas . Ultima tu nostris accedis causa querelis . Non agitur vento nostra carina suo . Ecce , iacent collo sparsi sine lege capilli , Nec premit articulos lucida gemma meos ; Veste tegor vili , nullum est in crinibus aurum , Non Arabum noster dona capillus habet . Cui colar infelix , aut cui placuisse laborem ? Ille mei cultus unicus auctor abes . Molle meum levibusque cor est violabile telis , Et semper causa est , cur ego semper amem — Sive ita nascenti legem dixere Sorores Nec data sunt vitae fila severa meae , Sive abeunt studia in mores , artisque magistra Ingenium nobis molle Thalia facit . Quid mirum , si me primae lanuginis aetas Abstulit , atque anni quos vir amare potest ? Hunc ne pro Cephalo raperes , Aurora , timebam — Et faceres , sed te prima rapina tenet ! Hunc si conspiciat quae conspicit omnia Phoebe , Iussus erit somnos continuare Phaon ; Hunc Venus in caelum curru vexisset eburno , Sed videt et Marti posse placere suo . O nec adhuc iuvenis , nec iam puer , utilis aetas , O decus atque aevi gloria magna tui , Huc ades inque sinus , formose , relabere nostros ! Non ut ames oro , verum ut amere sinas . Scribimus , et lacrimis oculi rorantur obortis ; Adspice , quam sit in hoc multa litura loco ! Si tam certus eras hinc ire , modestius isses , Et modo dixisses 'Lesbi puella , vale !' Non tecum lacrimas , non oscula nostra tulisti ; Denique non timui , quod dolitura fui . Nil de te mecum est nisi tantum iniuria ; nec tu , Admoneat quod te , pignus , amantis , habes . Non mandata dedi , neque enim mandata dedissem Ulla , nisi ut nolles inmemor esse mei . Per tibi — qui numquam longe discedat ! — amorem , Perque novem iuro , numina nostra , deas , Cum mihi nescio quis 'fugiunt tua gaudia ' dixit , Nec me flere diu , nec potuisse loqui ! Et lacrimae deerant oculis et verba palato , Adstrictum gelido frigore pectus erat . Postquam se dolor invenit , nec pectora plangi Nec puduit scissis exululare comis , Non aliter , quam si nati pia mater adempti Portet ad exstructos corpus inane rogos . Gaudet et e nostro crescit maerore Charaxus Frater , et ante oculos itque reditque meos , Utque pudenda mei videatur causa doloris , 'Quid dolet haec ? certe filia vivit !' ait . Non veniunt in idem pudor atque amor . omne videbat Vulgus ; eram lacero pectus aperta sinu . Tu mihi cura , Phaon ; te somnia nostra reducunt — Somnia formoso candidiora die . Illic te invenio , quamvis regionibus absis ; Sed non longa satis gaudia somnus habet Saepe tuos nostra cervice onerare lacertos , Saepe tuae videor supposuisse meos ; Oscula cognosco , quae tu committere lingua Aptaque consueras accipere , apta dare . Blandior interdum verisque simillima verba Eloquor , et vigilant sensibus ora meis . Ulteriora pudet narrare , sed omnia fiunt , Et iuvat , et siccae non licet esse mihi . At cum se Titan ostendit et omnia secum , Tam cito me somnos destituisse queror ; Antra nemusque peto , tamquam nemus antraque prosint — Conscia deliciis illa fuere meis . Illuc mentis inops , ut quam furialis Enyo Attigit , in collo crine iacente feror . Antra vident oculi scabro pendentia tofo , Quae mihi Mygdonii marmoris instar erant ; Invenio silvam , quae saepe cubilia nobis Praebuit et multa texit opaca coma — Sed non invenio dominum silvaeque meumque . Vile solum locus est ; dos erat ille loci . Cognovi pressas noti mihi caespitis herbas ; De nostro curvum pondere gramen erat . Incubui tetigique locum , qua parte fuisti ; Grata prius lacrimas conbibit herba meas . Quin etiam rami positis lugere videntur Frondibus , et nullae dulce queruntur aves ; Sola virum non ulta pie maestissima mater Concinit Ismarium Daulias ales Ityn . Ales Ityn , Sappho desertos cantat amores — Hactenus ; ut media cetera nocte silent . Est nitidus vitroque magis perlucidus omni Fons sacer — hunc multi numen habere putant — Quem supra ramos expandit aquatica lotos , Una nemus ; tenero caespite terra viret . Hic ego cum lassos posuissem flebilis artus , Constitit ante oculos Naias una meos . Constitit et dixit : 'quoniam non ignibus aequis Ureris , Ambracia est terra petenda tibi . Phoebus ab excelso , quantum patet , adspicit aequor — Actiacum populi Leucadiumque vocant . Hinc se Deucalion Pyrrhae succensus amore Misit , et inlaeso corpore pressit aquas . Nec mora , versus amor fugit lentissima mersi Pectora , Deucalion igne levatus erat . Hanc legem locus ille tenet . pete protinus altam Leucada nec saxo desiluisse time !' Ut monuit , cum voce abiit ; ego territa surgo , Nec lacrimas oculi continuere mei . Ibimus , o nymphe , monstrataque saxa petemus ; Sit procul insano victus amore timor ! Quidquid erit , melius quam nunc erit ! aura , subito Et mea non magnum corpora pondus habe ! Tu quoque , mollis Amor , pennas suppone cadenti , Ne sim Leucadiae mortua crimen aquae ! Inde chelyn Phoebo , communia munera , ponam , Et sub ea versus unus et alter erunt : Grata lyram posui tibi , Phoebe , poetria Sappho : Convenit illa mihi , convenit illa tibi . Cur tamen Actiacas miseram me mittis ad oras , Cum profugum possis ipse referre pedem ? Tu mihi Leucadia potes esse salubrior unda ; Et forma et meritis tu mihi Phoebus eris . An potes , o scopulis undaque ferocior omni , Si moriar , titulum mortis habere meae ? Ah quanto melius iungi mea pectora tecum Quam poterant saxis praecipitanda dari ! Haec sunt illa , Phaon , quae tu laudare solebas , Visaque sunt totiens ingeniosa tibi . Nunc vellem facunda forem ! dolor artibus obstat , Ingeniumque meis substitit omne malis . Non mihi respondent veteres in carmina vires ; Plectra dolore iacent muta , dolore lyra . Lesbides aequoreae , nupturaque nuptaque proles , Lesbides , Aeolia nomina dicta lyra , Lesbides , infamem quae me fecistis amatae , Desinite ad citharas turba venire mea ! Abstulit omne Phaon , quod vobis ante placebat , Me miseram , dixi quam modo paene 'meus !' Efficite ut redeat ; vates quoque vestra redibit . Ingenio vires ille dat , ille rapit . Ecquid ago precibus , pectusve agreste movetur ? An riget , et Zephyri verba caduca ferunt ? Qui mea verba ferunt , vellem tua vela referrent ; Hoc te , si saperes , lente , decebat opus . Sive redis , puppique tuae votiva parantur Munera , quid laceras pectora nostra mora ? Solve ratem ! Venus orta mari mare praestat amanti . Aura dabit cursum ; tu modo solve ratem ! Ipse gubernabit residens in puppe Cupido ; Ipse dabit tenera vela legetque manu . Sive iuvat longe fugisse Pelasgida Sappho — Non tamen invenies , cur ego digna fugi — Hoc saltem miserae crudelis epistula dicat , Ut mihi Leucadiae fata petantur aquae !
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Sappho to Phaon AT the sight of this letter written with an anxious hand, will you not instantly know the characters to be mine? Or must even the name of the unhappy writer be added, to prove the person by whom the few lines are sent? You may perhaps wonder why I address you in alternate measures, when lyric numbers so much better suit my genius. But unsuccessful love complains in melancholy notes, and elegy is the most proper for the expression of my woe. No harp can serve to paint my flowing tears. I burn like a ripened field of corn, when driving east-winds spread the catching flames. Phaon honors the distant fields of burning Ætna, while flames fierce as those of Ætna prey upon my heart. I no more take pleasure in forming my numbers to the tuneful strings: music and poetry are the employment of a mind at ease. The dames of Pyrrha, Methymna, and the other cities of Lesbos, please no more. Anactorie and fair Cydno have lost their charms; and Atthis, of late so grateful to my sight; with hundreds of others, once the objects of my guilty love. Faithless man, yo alone engross that heart, formerly shared by many. You are happy in a fine face, and years fit for pleasure and dalliance. O enchanting looks, so fatal to me and my repose! Take the harp and bow, and you will pass with all for Apollo. Adorn your head with wreaths of ivy, and you will appear beautiful as Bacchus. Yet Apollo was enamored of Daphne, and Bacchus of the Cretan maid, though neither of them excelled in lyric measures. To me the Muses dictate the sweetest lays, and the name of Sappho resounds through all nations. Even great Alcæus, the partner of my country and my harp, has not more renown, though he sings in loftier notes. If unfriendly nature has denied me an engaging form, yet the charms of my wit abundantly compensate that deficiency. I am short of stature; yet I have a name that fills the whole earth, and by my own merit have gained this extensive renown. What if I am not fair? Was not even Perseus pleased with Andromede, an Æthiopian dame? Doves of various colours often unite, and the white turtle matches with the shining green. If no charms can gain your heart but such as equal your own, no charms will be ever able to gain Phaon. yet when you read my lays, I then seemed formed to please: you were never enough delighted with my voice, and swore that it became me alone to speak. I remember when wont to sing (for, ah, how vast a memory have lovers!) how you stopped my tongue with kisses; even these you praised: I pleased in all, but more particularly when united with you is the close bonds of love. Then you were fired by my amorous sport; each motion, each glance, each word inflamed you, till, dissolving in tumultuous raptures, gentle faintness surprised our wearied limbs. But now the Sicilian maids take up all your thoughts. Why was I born at Lesbos? Why am I not a native of Sicily? But ah! Sicilian nymphs, beware, and banish from your isle this deceitful wanderer. Be not deceived with the fictions of an insinuating tongue; those faithless vows have all been made to Sappho. You too, Erycina, who range the Sicilian hills, think that I am thine, and pity the sorrows of your poetess. Shall cruel fortune still pursue the same sad tenor, and obstinately persist in heaping woes upon me? Scarcely had I completed my sixth year, when the ashes of a deceased parent drank my tears. My brother next, despising wealth and honor, burned with an ignoble flame, and rashly plunged himself into shameful distresses. Reduced to want, he traversed the blue ocean in a nimble bark, and basely hunted after those riches which he had foolishly lost. My many good counsels he repaid with hatred; such was the reward of my piety and plain-dealing. And, as if fortune had determined to oppress me without ceasing, an infant daughter has been lately added to my cares. Yet adverse fate still pursues me, and sends you, the last and greatest of my woes. Alas! How much is this tempestuous voyage of life agitated by unfriendly gales? My locks no more hang curled in ringlets round my neck; nor do the glowing gems adorn my joints. I am clad in homely weeds; no braids of gold bind the flowing tresses, nor do Arabian unguents breathe their sweet perfumes. For whom shall I adorn myself, unhappy wretch? whom shall I thus study to please? The only object of my tenderness is gone. The light darts of Cupid easily wound my gentle heart; and still there is some cause, why Sappho still should love. Whether the Sisters have so fixed my doom from the birth, and formed my life to the softer ties of Venus; or my manners are fashioned by my studies, and those arts in which I excel; the Muse certainly forms my mind to answer the molting notes of my tongue. What wonder, if my tender age yields to the gentle violence, and those years that recommend to the addresses of men? How was I afraid that Aurora might seise you for her Cephalus? And she would have done it, had she not been detained by her first love. If Cynthia, whose eye extends over all, should chance to fix it upon you, Phaon would be commanded to prolong his sleep. Venus would have borne you off in a chariot of ivory to the skies; but she foresaw that you would no less charm her beloved Mars. O scarcely a youth, and yet not a tender boy; useful age for lovers! O pride and glory of thy age, come to these arms; return, darling of my soul, to my soft embraces. I ask not your love, but that you will kindly receive mine. I write, and, as I write, the starting tears flow from my eyes: see what a number of blots stain this very place. If you were determined to abandon me, it might yet have been done in a kinder way. Was it too much to say, Farewell, my Lesbian maid? You saw none of my tears, you received no parting kisses; nor did I at all apprehend what a load of grief awaited me. You have left nothing with your Sappho but wrongs and woes; nor have carried any pledge with you to renew the memory of our loves. I gave you no charge; nor indeed had I any other charge to give, than that you would be always mindful of me. I swear to you by the God of love, by whom let me never be abandoned, and by the sacred nine, those deities whom I adore, that when first told (I hardly know by whom) that you and all my joys had fled, I had neither the power of speaking nor of weeping; my eyes did not grant me the relief of tears, and my tongue was deprived of all motion; a death-like coldness seized my boding heart: but when impetuous grief at last found a vent, I beat my breast, and rent my scattered locks, raving in all the wildness of furious despair; like a pious mother who bears to the funeral-pile the breathless body of her darling son. My brother Charaxus rejoices at the disaster, and barbarously triumphs in my griefs: his hated image is ever before my eyes; and, to reproach me with the shameful cause, he asks, Why all this sadness? Your daughter still lives. Love and shame are ever inconsistent. With garments torn, and my bosom bare, I proclaim to all the world my guilt. You, Phaon, take up all my thoughts; my care by day, and the nightly object of my dreams; dreams that charm more than the brightest day. In these I find you, though fled to remote regions; but, alas! the joys of sleep are vain and short-lived. Oft you seem to wind your arms round my yielding neck. Oft my arms fondly encircle thine. I soothe and address you in softest words, and my mouth is prompt to utter the language of my heart. I seem to give and take endearing kisses; and yield to joys which I blush to mention, while yet I must confess how much they please. But when the rising sun spreads his light over all; as if once more deserted, I complain that sleep has fled so soon. I retire to the caves and groves, as if caves and groves could yield relief; and fondly court the haunts that have witnessed your dear embraces. Thither I run, my hair loose and disheveled, like those who are infatuated by some powerful sorceress. There I behold the caves beset with rugged cliffs, that to me were more pleasant than the finest Phrygian marble. I find the grove that hath often afforded us a flowery bed, and sheltered us from the heat by its spreading leaves. But I no more find him with whom I haunted these beloved shades: they now can please no more; for to him they owed all their charms. I view the pressed grass on which we have reposed our wearied limbs, where the bending turf retains the print of our double weight. i kiss the earth pressed by your lovely limbs, and bedew with tears the grateful herbs. For thee the trees, dropping their leaves, seem to mourn, and the tuneful birds deny their songs. The Phocian bind alone, that disconsolate mother, who took so cruel a revenge on her Thracian lord, mourns the hard fate of Itys. The nightingale mourns the fate of Itys; Sappho laments that she is deserted by Phaon. All else is silent, and involved in the shades of night. A spring there is, whose waters run clear and transparent as crystal: here, as many think, a deity resides. Above, a flowery lotos spreads its shading branches, and seems itself a grove: the banks around are edged with eternal green. Here, while, after an effusion of tears, I rested my wearied limbs, a Naiad suddenly stood before my eyes. She stood, and said, O you who burn with an ill-requited flame, fly to the Acarnanian shore. Apollo from an impending rock surveys the extended ocean below, which is called, by the inhabitants, the sea of Actium and Leucate: hence Deucalion, inflamed with the hopeless love of Pyrrha, plunged himself unhurt into the main. Forthwith love changing, possessed the obstinate heart of Pyrrha; and Deucalion was freed from his flame. Such is the law of the place. Haste then, throw yourself from high Leucadia, nor dread the threatening steep. She spoke, and disappeared with the voice. I rose amazed, and my dim eyes overflowed with tears. I go, O nymph, to prove these healing rocks; fear recedes, borne down by powerful love. My fate, whatever it is, will be milder than at present. Blow up, gentle gales, beneath my falling body, and lay me softly on the swelling waves. And thou too, gentle Love, bear up my sinking limbs with out-spread wings; and let not Sappho's death profane the guiltless Leucadian flood. I will then hang up my lyre to Phœbus, and under it write this inscription: Grateful Sappho consecrates her harp to Phœbus; a gift that suits both the giver and the God. But why, relentless youth, do you drive me to distant coasts, when you can so easily cure me by your return? Your charms are more powerful than the Leucadian waves; and your merit and beauty make you a Phœbus to me. Can you bear, O more hard-hearted than the rocks and waves, to be reputed the cause of my untimely death? Would'st thou rather see this breast dashed on pointed rocks, than pressed to thine? this breast, which you, Phaon, have so often praised as the seat of love and genius. But now genius is no more; grief checks my thoughts, and the edge of my wit is blunted by my misfortunes. My wonted strength no more furnishes the flowing lines; my lute is silent, and the sounding notes sink under a weight of woe. Ye Lesbian virgins and dames, so often celebrated by the Æolian lyre; Lesbians, the objects of my guilty love; cease to hope that I will more touch the sounding harp. Phaon is gone, and with him all my joys have vanished. Unhappy wretch, I had almost called him mine. Make him return; no more shall you complain of the absence of your poetess; it is he, he only, that inspires or quenches the poetic flame. Can prayers avail nothing? Is your savage breast proof against all tender feelings? or have the flying Zephyrs lost my words in air? O that the winds which bear away my words, would bring back your welcome sails! It is what, if you are wise for yourself, you ought now, though late, to hasten. Or are you already on the way, and are sacrifices offered for your safety? Why do you tear my heart with cruel delays? Spread your sails: the sea-born Goddess will smooth the waves, and prosperous gales speed your course. Only weigh anchor, and set sail. Cupid himself, sitting at the helm, will govern the bark; he with a skilful hand will unfold and gather in the sails. Or do you choose to fly from unhappy Sappho? Alas! what have I done to be thus the object of your aversion? At least inform me of this by a few cruel lines, that I may plunge myself, with all my miseries, amidst the Leucadian waves. |
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Paris Helenae Hanc tibi Priamides mitto , Ledaea , salutem , Quae tribui sola te mihi dante potest . Eloquar , an flammae non est opus indice notae , Et plus quam vellem iam meus extat amor ? Ille quidem lateat malim , dum tempora dentur Laetitiae mixtos non habitura metus , Sed male dissimulo ; quis enim celaverit ignem , Lumine qui semper proditur ipse suo ? Si tamen expectas , vocem quoque rebus ut addam — Uror ! habes animi nuntia verba mei . Parce , precor , fasso , nec vultu cetera duro Perlege , sed formae conveniente tuae . Iamdudum gratum est , quod epistula nostra recepta Spem facit , hoc recipi me quoque posse modo . Quae rata sit , nec te frustra promiserit , opto , Hoc mihi quae suasit , mater Amoris , iter ; Namque ego divino monitu — ne nescia pecces — Advehor , et coepto non leve numen adest . Praemia magna quidem , sed non indebita , posco ; Pollicita est thalamo te Cytherea meo . Hac duce Sigeo dubias a litore feci Longa Phereclea per freta puppe vias . Illa dedit faciles auras ventosque secundos — In mare nimirum ius habet orta mari . Perstet et ut pelagi , sic pectoris adiuvet aestum ; Deferat in portus et mea vota suos . Attulimus flammas , non hic invenimus , illas . Hae mihi tam longae causa fuere viae , Nam neque tristis hiemps neque nos huc appulit error ; Taenaris est classi terra petita meae . Nec me crede fretum merces portante carina Findere — quas habeo , di tueantur opes ! Nec venio Graias veluti spectator ad urbes — Oppida sunt regni divitiora mei . Te peto , quam pepigit lecto Venus aurea nostro ; Te prius optavi , quam mihi nota fores . Ante tuos animo vidi quam lumine vultus ; Prima tulit vulnus nuntia fama tui . Nec tamen est mirum , si sic cum polleat arcus , Missilibus telis eminus ictus amo . Sic placuit fatis ; quae ne convellere temptes , Accipe cum vera dicta relata fide . Matris adhuc utero partu remorante tenebar ; Iam gravidus iusto pondere venter erat . Illa sibi ingentem visa est sub imagine somni Flammiferam pleno reddere ventre facem . Territa consurgit metuendaque noctis opacae Visa seni Priamo ; vatibus ille refert . Arsurum Paridis vates canit Ilion igni — Pectoris , ut nunc est , fax fuit illa mei ! Forma vigorque animi , quamvis de plebe videbar , Indicium tectae nobilitatis erat . Est locus in mediis nemorosae vallibus Idae Devius et piceis ilicibusque frequens , Qui nec ovis placidae nec amantis saxa capellae Nec patulo tardae carpitur ore bovis . Hinc ego Dardaniae muros excelsaque tecta Et freta prospiciens arbore nixus eram — Ecce ! pedum pulsu visa est mihi terra moveri — Vera loquar veri vix habitura fidem — Constitit ante oculos actus velocibus alis Atlantis magni Pleionesque nepos — Fas vidisse fuit , fas sit mihi visa referre ! — Inque dei digitis aurea virga fuit ; Tresque simul divae , Venus et cum Pallade Iuno , Graminibus teneros inposuere pedes . Obstipui , gelidusque comas erexerat horror , Cum mihi 'pone metum !' nuntius ales ait , 'Arbiter es formae ; certamina siste dearum ; Vincere quae forma digna sit una duas !' Neve recusarem , verbis Iovis imperat et se Protinus aetheria tollit in astra via . Mens mea convaluit , subitoque audacia venit , Nec timui vultu quamque notare meo . Vincere erant omnes dignae iudexque querebar Non omnes causam posse tenere suam . Sed tamen ex illis iam tunc magis una placebat , Hanc esse ut scires , unde movetur amor . Tantaque vincendi cura est ; ingentibus ardent Iudicium donis sollicitare meum . Regna Iovis coniunx , virtutem filia iactat ; Ipse potens dubito fortis an esse velim . Dulce Venus risit ; 'nec te , Pari , munera tangant Utraque suspensi plena timoris !' ait ; 'Nos dabimus , quod ames , et pulchrae filia Ledae Ibit in amplexus pulchrior illa tuos !' Dixit , et ex aequo donis formaque probatis Victorem caelo rettulit illa pedem . Interea — credo versis ad prospera fatis — Regius adgnoscor per rata signa puer . Laeta domus nato post tempora longa recepto est , Addit et ad festos hunc quoque Troia diem . Utque ego te cupio , sic me cupiere puellae ; Multarum votum sola tenere potes ! Nec tantum regum natae petiere ducumque , Sed nymphis etiam curaque amorque fui . Quam super Oenones faciem mirarer ? in orbe Nec Priamo est a te dignior ulla nurus . Sed mihi cunctarum subeunt fastidia , postquam Coniugii spes est , Tyndari , facta tui . Te vigilans oculis , animo te nocte videbam , Lumina cum placido victa sopore iacent . Quid facies praesens , quae nondum visa placebas ? Ardebam , quamvis hic procul ignis erat , Nec potui debere mihi spem longius istam , Caerulea peterem quin mea vota via . Troica caeduntur Phrygia pineta securi Quaeque erat aequoreis utilis arbor aquis ; Ardua proceris spoliantur Gargara silvis , Innumerasque mihi longa dat Ida trabes . Fundatura citas flectuntur robora naves , Texitur et costis panda carina suis . Addimus antennas et vela sequentia malo ; Accipit et pictos puppis adunca deos ; Qua tamen ipse vehor , comitata Cupidine parvo Sponsor coniugii stat dea picta tui . Inposita est factae postquam manus ultima classi , Protinus Aegaeis ire lubebat aquis — At pater et genetrix inhibent mea vota rogando Propositumque pia voce morantur iter ; Et soror , effusis ut erat , Cassandra , capillis , Cum vellent nostrae iam dare vela rates , 'Quo ruis ?' exclamat , 'referes incendia tecum ! Quanta per has nescis flamma petatur aquas !' Vera fuit vates ; dictos invenimus ignes , Et ferus in molli pectore flagrat amor ! Portubus egredior , ventisque ferentibus usus Applicor in terras , Oebali nympha , tuas . Excipit hospitio vir me tuus — hoc quoque factum Non sine consilio numinibusque deum ! Ille quidem ostendit , quidquid Lacedaemone tota Ostendi dignum conspicuumque fuit ; Sed mihi laudatam cupienti cernere formam Lumina nil aliud quo caperentur erat . Ut vidi , obstipui praecordiaque intima sensi Attonitus curis intumuisse novis . His similes vultus , quantum reminiscor , habebat Venit in arbitrium cum Cytherea meum . Si tu venisses pariter certamen in illud , In dubio Veneris palma futura fuit ! Magna quidem de te rumor praeconia fecit , Nullaque de facie nescia terra tua est ; Nec tibi par usquam Phrygia nec solis ab ortu Inter formosas altera nomen habet ! Crede sed hoc nobis ! — minor est tua gloria vero , Famaque de forma paene maligna tua est ; Plus hic invenio , quam quod promiserat illa , Et tua materia gloria victa sua est . Ergo arsit merito , qui noverat omnia , Theseus , Et visa es tanto digna rapina viro , More tuae gentis nitida dum nuda palaestra Ludis et es nudis femina mixta viris . Quod rapuit , laudo ; miror , quod reddidit umquam . Tam bona constanter praeda tenenda fuit . Ante recessisset caput hoc cervice cruenta , Quam tu de thalamis abstraherere meis . Tene manus umquam nostrae dimittere vellent ? Tene meo paterer vivus abire sinu ? Si reddenda fores , aliquid tamen ante tulissem , Nec Venus ex toto nostra fuisset iners . Vel mihi virginitas esset libata , vel illud Quod poterat salva virginitate rapi . Da modo te , quae sit Paridis constantia , nosces ; Flamma rogi flammas finiet una meas . Praeposui regnis ego te , quae maxima quondam Pollicita est nobis nupta sororque Iovis ; Dumque tuo possem circumdare bracchia collo , Contempta est virtus Pallade dante mihi . Nec piget , aut umquam stulte legisse videbor ; Permanet in voto mens mea firma suo . Spem modo ne nostram fieri patiare caducam , Deprecor , o tanto digna labore peti ! Non ego coniugium generosae degener opto , Nec mea , crede mihi , turpiter uxor eris . Pliada , si quaeres , in nostra gente Iovemque Invenies , medios ut taceamus avos ; Regna parens Asiae , qua nulla beatior ora est , Finibus inmensis vix obeunda , tenet . Innumeras urbes atque aurea tecta videbis , Quaeque suos dicas templa decere deos . Ilion adspicies firmataque turribus altis Moenia , Phoebeae structa canore lyrae . Quid tibi de turba narrem numeroque virorum ? Vix populum tellus sustinet illa suum . Occurrent denso tibi Troades agmine matres , Nec capient Phrygias atria nostra nurus . O quotiens dices : 'quam pauper Achaia nostra est !' Una domus quaevis urbis habebit opes . Nec mihi fas fuerit Sparten contemnere vestram ; In qua tu nata es , terra beata mihi est . Parca sed est Sparte , tu cultu divite digna ; Ad talem formam non facit iste locus . Hanc faciem largis sine fine paratibus uti Deliciisque decet luxuriare novis . Cum videas cultus nostra de gente virorum , Qualem Dardanias credis habere nurus ? Da modo te facilem , nec dedignare maritum , Rure Therapnaeo nata puella , Phrygem . Phryx erat et nostro genitus de sanguine , qui nunc Cum dis potando nectare miscet aquas . Phryx erat Aurorae coniunx , tamen abstulit illum Extremum noctis quae dea finit iter . Phryx etiam Anchises , volucrum cui mater Amorum Gaudet in Idaeis concubuisse iugis . Nec , puto , conlatis forma Menelaus et annis Iudice te nobis anteferendus erit . Non dabimus certe socerum tibi clara fugantem Lumina , qui trepidos a dape vertat equos ; Nec Priamo pater est soceri de caede cruentus Et qui Myrtoas crimine signat aquas ; Nec proavo Stygia nostro captantur in unda Poma , nec in mediis quaeritur umor aquis . Quid tamen hoc refert , si te tenet ortus ab illis , Cogitur huic domui Iuppiter esse socer ? Heu facinus ! totis indignus noctibus ille Te tenet , amplexu perfruiturque tuo ; At mihi conspiceris posita vix denique mensa , Multaque quae laedant hoc quoque tempus habet . Hostibus eveniant convivia talia nostris , Experior posito qualia saepe mero ! Paenitet hospitii , cum me spectante lacertos Inponit collo rusticus iste tuo . Rumpor et invidia — quid enim non omnia narrem ? — Membra superiecta cum tua veste fovet . Oscula cum vero coram non dura daretis , Ante oculos posui pocula sumpta meos ; Lumina demitto cum te tenet artius ille , Crescit et invito lentus in ore cibus . Saepe dedi gemitus ; et te — lasciva ! — notavi In gemitu risum non tenuisse meo . Saepe mero volui flammam compescere , at illa Crevit , et ebrietas ignis in igne fuit , Multaque ne videam , versa cervice recumbo ; Sed revocas oculos protinus ipsa meos . Quid faciam , dubito ; dolor est meus illa videre , Sed dolor a facie maior abesse tua . Qua licet et possum , luctor celare furorem ; Sed tamen apparet dissimulatus amor . Nec tibi verba damus ; sentis mea vulnera , sentis ! Atque utinam soli sint ea nota tibi ! A , quotiens lacrimis venientibus ora reflexi , Ne causam fletus quaereret ille mei ! A , quotiens aliquem narravi potus amorem , Ad vulnus referens singula verba meum , Indiciumque mei ficto sub nomine feci ! Ille ego , si nescis , verus amator eram . Quin etiam , ut possem verbis petulantius uti , Non semel ebrietas est simulata mihi . Prodita sunt , memini , tunica tua pectora laxa Atque oculis aditum nuda dedere meis — Pectora vel puris nivibus vel lacte tuamve Complexo matrem candidiora Iove . Dum stupeo visis — nam pocula forte tenebam — Tortilis a digitis excidit ansa meis . Oscula si natae dederas , ego protinus illa Hermiones tenero laetus ab ore tuli . Et modo cantabam veteres resupinus amores , Et modo per nutum signa tegenda dabam . Et comitum primas , Clymenen Aethramque , tuarum Ausus sum blandis nuper adire sonis , Quae mihi non aliud , quam formidare , locutae Orantis medias deseruere preces . Di facerent , pretium magni certaminis esses , Teque suo posset victor habere toro ! — Ut tulit Hippomenes Schoeneida praemia cursus , Venit ut in Phrygios Hippodamia sinus , Ut ferus Alcides Acheloia cornua fregit , Dum petit amplexus , Deianira , tuos . Nostra per has leges audacia fortiter isset , Teque mei scires esse laboris opus . Nunc mihi nil superest nisi te , formosa , precari , Amplectique tuos , si patiare , pedes . O decus , o praesens geminorum gloria fratrum , O Iove digna viro , ni Iove nata fores , Aut ego Sigeos repetam te coniuge portus , Aut hic Taenaria contegar exul humo ! Non mea sunt summa leviter destricta sagitta Pectora ; descendit vulnus ad ossa meum ! Hoc mihi — nam repeto — fore , ut a caeleste sagitta Figar , erat verax vaticinata soror . Parce datum fatis , Helene , contemnere amorem — Sic habeas faciles in tua vota deos ! Multa quidem subeunt ; sed coram ut plura loquamur , Excipe me lecto nocte silente tuo . An pudet et metuis Venerem temerare maritam Castaque legitimi fallere iura tori ? A , nimium simplex Helene , ne rustica dicam , Hanc faciem culpa posse carere putas ? Aut faciem mutes aut sis non dura , necesse est ; Lis est cum forma magna pudicitiae . Iuppiter his gaudet , gaudet Venus aurea furtis ; Haec tibi nempe patrem furta dedere Iovem . Vix fieri , si sunt vires in semine morum , Et Iovis et Ledae filia casta potest . Casta tamen tum sis , cum te mea Troia tenebit , Et tua sim , quaeso , crimina solus ego . Nunc ea peccemus quae corriget hora iugalis , Si modo promisit non mihi vana Venus ! Ipse tibi hoc suadet rebus , non voce , maritus , Neve sui furtis hospitis obstet , abest . Non habuit tempus , quo Cresia regna videret , Aptius — o mira calliditate virum ! 'Res , et ut Idaei mando tibi ,' dixit iturus , 'Curam pro nobis hospitis , uxor , agas .' Neclegis absentis , testor , mandata mariti ! Cura tibi non est hospitis ulla tui . Huncine tu speras , hominem sine pectore , dotes Posse satis formae , Tyndari , nosse tuae ? Falleris — ignorat ; nec , si bona magna putaret , Quae tenet , externo crederet illa viro . Ut te nec mea vox nec te meus incitet ardor , Cogimur ipsius commoditate frui — Aut erimus stulti , sic ut superemus et ipsum , Si tam securum tempus abibit iners . Paene suis ad te manibus deducit amantem ; Utere mandantis simplicitate viri ! Sola iaces viduo tam longa nocte cubili ; In viduo iaceo solus et ipse toro . Te mihi meque tibi communia gaudia iungant ; Candidior medio nox erit illa die . Tunc ego iurabo quaevis tibi numina meque Adstringam verbis in sacra vestra meis ; Tunc ego , si non est fallax fiducia nostri , Efficiam praesens , ut mea regna petas . Si pudet et metuis ne me videare secuta , Ipse reus sine te criminis huius ero ; Nam sequar Aegidae factum fratrumque tuorum . Exemplo tangi non propiore potes . Te rapuit Theseus , geminas Leucippidas illi ; Quartus in exemplis adnumerabor ego . Troica classis adest armis instructa virisque ; Iam facient celeres remus et aura vias . Ibis Dardanias ingens regina per urbes , Teque novam credet vulgus adesse deam , Quaque feres gressus , adolebunt cinnama flammae , Caesaque sanguineam victima planget humum . Dona pater fratresque et cum genetrice sorores Iliadesque omnes totaque Troia dabit . Ei mihi ! pars a me vix dicitur ulla futuri . Plura feres , quam quae littera nostra refert . Nec tu rapta time , ne nos fera bella sequantur , Concitet et vires Graecia magna suas . Tot prius abductis ecqua est repetita per arma ? Crede mihi , vanos res habet ista metus . Nomine ceperunt Aquilonis Erechthida Thraces , Et tuta a bello Bistonis ora fuit ; Phasida puppe nova vexit Pagasaeus Iason , Laesa neque est Colcha Thessala terra manu . Te quoque qui rapuit , rapuit Minoida Theseus ; Nulla tamen Minos Cretas ad arma vocat . Terror in his ipso maior solet esse periclo , Quaeque timere licet , pertimuisse pudet . Finge tamen , si vis , ingens consurgere bellum — Et mihi sunt vires , et mea tela nocent . Nec minor est Asiae quam vestrae copia terrae ; Illa viris dives , dives abundat equis . Nec plus Atrides animi Menelaus habebit Quam Paris aut armis anteferendus erit . Paene puer caesis abducta armenta recepi , Hostibus et causam nominis inde tuli ; Paene puer iuvenes vario certamine vici , In quibus Ilioneus Deiphobusque fuit ; Neve putes , non me nisi comminus esse timendum , Figitur in iusso nostra sagitta loco . Num potes haec illi primae dare facta iuventae ? Instruere Atriden num potes arte mea ? Omnia si dederis , numquid dabis Hectora fratrem ? Unus is innumeri militis instar erit ! Quid valeam nescis , et te mea robora fallunt ; Ignoras , cui sis nupta futura viro . Aut igitur nullo belli repetere tumultu , Aut cedent Marti Dorica castra meo . Nec tamen indigner pro tanta sumere ferrum Coniuge . certamen praemia magna movent . Tu quoque , si de te totus contenderit orbis , Nomen ab aeterna posteritate feres Spe modo non timida dis hinc egressa secundis ; Exige cum plena munera pacta fide .
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Paris to Helen PARIS, the son of Priam, sends health to helen; that health, which he can himself no otherwise enjoy, than as it is your gift. Shall I then speak? or is it unnecessary to inform you of a passion that betrays itself? Has not my love already laid itself too open? I could indeed wish it to lie conceaied, till the time comes when we can taste of joys unallayed by any mixture of fear. But it is in vain that I dissemble; for who can smother a flame that always discovers itself by its own brightness? If yet you expect that my tongue should confirm what my actions have so long declared,— I burn. This message brings you the true sense of my heart. Forgive this kind confession; and do not peruse what remains with a severe look, but with one that best becomes your heavenly form. Already it gives me pleasure to think that my letter is well received; for this creates a hope that I may also meet with the same kind entertainment. Heaven grant that my hopes may be confirmed, and that the queen of love, who urged me to this voyage, may not have promised in vain. For, that you may not offend through ignorance, know that I came hither by a divine admonition, and that one, not the meanest of the divine powers, favors my design. The prize I seek indeed is great, yet what I may justly claim; for Venus promised you, fair as you are, to my bed. Guided by her, I abandoned the Sigean shore, ventured upon a doubtful fate, and did not decline to plough the pathless deep in the Phereclean bark. She commanded a gentle breeze, and stretched the canvass with auspicious gales; for, having sprung from the teeming deep, she still retains her empire over the main. May she still persevere; and, as she calms the sea, so may she calm the tempest that rages in my breast, and bring home all my vows and sighs to their desired port. My flames I brought with me; for I did not first find them here. They were the cause of my undertaking so long a voyage: for no threatening storm or mistaken course drove us hither; my fleet was designed from the first for the coast of Laconia. Nor fancy that I plough the waves in a ship laden with merchandise: the Gods have already blessed me with ample wealth. Nor came I so far to view and admire the cities of Greece; my own kingdom is filled with richer towns. It is you that I seek, whom beautiful Venus promised to my embraces; I wished for the enjoyment of your love, even before I was acquainted with your charms. Long before my eyes beheld you, I had formed an image of you in my mind; for fame was the first messenger of your beauty. Nor is it so great a wonder, that, pierced by the swift-winged arrow at such a distance, I offer you my heart. So the Fates have ordained; which that you may not strive to resist, attend to a relation that carries in it nothing but truth. I was yet enclosed in the womb of my mother, now pregnant with a burthen almost struggling for birth. She in a mysterious dream seemed to herself to be delivered of a burning torch. She was frighted, and related to priam the tremendous visions of the gloomy might: he consulted the sacred seers. The prophet foretold, that the flames of the ruined Troy were portended by the threatening torch; but surely Fate meant the flames that now rage in my breast. Though exposed among shepherds, yet my form and native greatness spoke the nobility of my birth. In the thickest groves of Ida there is a place remarkably retired, and shaded with oaks and pitch-trees. The grass, upon this spot, is not touched by the bleating sheep, the goat delighting in rocks and cliffs, or the laborious ox. As here I stood leaning upon a tree, and beholding from afar the walls, lofty towers, and winding bays of Troy, lo, suddenly, the ground seemed to be shaken with the tread of feet. I speak the truth; yet scarcely will it be able to gain the credit due to truth. The grandson of great Atlas and Pleione, borne through the air on nimble wings, stood before my eyes. As I was permitted to see, so may it be allowed me to relate what I have seen. The God stood, and in his sacred hand was a golden rod: three Goddesses too, Venus, Juno, and Pallas, gently pressed the grass with their tender feet. I stood amazed, and a chilling horror raised my hair in bristles; when the winged messenger thus addressed me: "Banish fear; you are appointed the judge of beauty; settle therefore the contests of the Goddesses, and name one who must claim the prize of beauty from the other two." And, that I might not decline the task, he laid his commands upon me in the name of Jupiter, and then mounted aloft through the aerial way. My mind seemed to gather strength, and I was conscious of an unusual boldness; nor did I fear to fix my eyes upon each of them with attention. They all seemed worthy of the victory; and I, their judge, was grieved to think, that all could not equally carry off the prize. yet even then there was one that pleased me more: insomuch, that it was easy to discover in her mien and air the Queen of Love. So strong was the contention for superiority, that they began to solicit my favor by bribes. The wife of Jove offered me a kingdom, Pallas prudence and valour, whilst I myself could not resolve to which to give the preference: but Venus, sweetly smiling, said, "Let not gifts like these, Paris, sway you; for both are full of fears and anxieties. I will give you to taste of the pleasures of love; and fair Leda's yet fairer daughter shall receive your fond caresses." Thus attractively she spoke; and, equally powerful by her gifts and beauty, returned to heaven with victorious pace. In the mean time, (the Fates beginning to be now more propitious,) I am known by undoubted signs to be the son of royal Priam. The court is over- joyed to recover a son who had so long been lost; and grateful Troy adds this day also to her festivals. And, as I now languish for you, so did the beauties of Troy for me: you alone reign over my heart, for which many sighed in vain. Nor was I only desired by the daughters of kings and heroes: I was also the darling and care of heaven-born Nymphs. But all these, Tyndaris, met with a return of cold disdain, when the hopes of your embrace had fired my breast. All the day fancy placed you before my eyes; at night too, when my eyes were sealed by gentle sleep, you stood before me in my dreams. What surprise then must your presence give, whose absent image so far occupied my thoughts? I was consumed with the flame, though it scorched at so great a distance. Nor was I able to restrain my ardent hopes from seeking the desired object through the blue ocean. The stately Trojan pines were cut down with a Phrygian axe, and every tree that was fittest to plough the yielding deep. The steep Gargarean summits were despoiled of their lofty woods; and spacious Ida furnished me with the finest planks. Stiff oaks were bent to form the doubling hold, and the rising sides were knit with jointed ribs. Sails and sail-yards were added to the lofty masts; and the bending stern was adorned with painted Gods. On my own ship stood the Goddess, who promised to make me happy in your embraces; accompanied by her little son Cupid. The fleet being thus completely prepared, I longed to traverse the wide Ægean sea. My father and mother opposed their entreaties to my desires, and with pious requests withstood my intended voyage. Cassandra too, my sister, with loose and disordered locks, just as the ships were ready to set sail, ex-claimed, Whither do you hurry without thought, to bring back fire and destruction? Alas! you little think what raging flames threaten us from beyond these seas. True were her predictions: I have felt the threatened fires; tyrannic love rages in my yielding breast. Yet I set sail, and, urged by propitious gales, arrived, fairest nymph, on your native coasts. There I was kindly entertained by your husband; and this did not happen without the concurrence and contrivance of the Gods. He shewed me every thing that was remarkable or worth notice in Lacedæmon: but in vain these objects solicited the attention of one, who was wholly possessed with the desire of beholding your celebrated beauty. I saw, and stood amazed: stricken to the inmost soul with your charms, I felt my heart well with new cares. Such was Venus, so far as I can remember, when she descended from heaven, to submit to my decision. If you had also come to bear a part in that contest, even Venus could have scarcely pretended to the prize. Fame indeed has so diffused the report of your beauty, that no country is a stranger to your charms. Not even Phrygia can boast of your equal; nor, from the rising to the setting sun, is there one to rival you. Believe me when I tell you, that your fame comes far short of the truth; for even report has invidiously denied the share of praise due to your charms. I found you greatly to exceed what that had given ground to hope, and that your fame in every thing fell below your merit. Well therefore might Theseus, who knew all, feel the power of so many charms, and think you a prey worthy of so great a hero; when, after the manner of your country, you contended in the wrestling-ring, and disputed with the other sex the prize of manly exercise. I commend the bold theft, but wonder how he ever could restore you: so inestimable a prize ought always to have been retained. Sooner should this head have been severed from the bloody neck, than any one be suffered to tear you from my embraces. Would ever this right-hand have permitted you to be carried off? Could I, while ought of life remained, have tamely seen you ravished from my bosom? If necessity had compelled me, yet I would not have left you before I had received some pledge of your love, some earnest of the strength of our mutual flame. I would have tasted of your virgin charms, or, if that bliss had been denied, have ravished a thousand kisses. Fly then to my arms, and try the firmness and constancy of Paris. The funeral flames alone shall extinguish the flames that rage in my breast. I preferred you to a kingdom, once offered by the sister and the wife of Jove. Even prudence and valor, the gifts of Pallas, were postponed to the sweet pleasure of throwing my arms round your neck. Nor do I repent, or charge myself with having made a foolish choice: my mind continues firm in its first resolve. You only, to obtain whom no labor can appear great, do not, O do not suffer my hopes to vanish into air. I am not one whose birth will disgrace the noble line of his spouse; not is it beneath your dignity to be wedded to Paris. The Pleiades, and great Jove himself, ennoble my pedigree; not to mention the long race of succeeding kings. My father sways the sceptre of Asia, a kingdom rich and fertile, whose ample bounds stretch as far as the rising sun. There you will behold innumerable cities, houses roofed with gold, and temples becoming the Gods to whom they belong. You will see Ilion and its walls strengthened with lofty towers, all built to the harmony of Apollo's lyre. Why should I mention the vast multitudes of people? the country is scarcely able to sustain its inhabitants. The Trojan matrons will meet you in troops; nor will our halls accommodate the concourse of Phrygian dames. How often will you say, What a poor naked country is Greece; and that one Phrygian palace is richer than whole cities there! Nor mean I by this to despise your native land; for the region in which you first drew your breath, must ever be to me a dear and happy country. Yet Sparta is poor, whereas you are worthy of the richest ornaments: that sordid city ill suits a form so lovely. Your face ought to shine with rich attire, and be set off with all the ornaments and luxuriance of dress. When you so much admire the habit of the Trojans who attend me, what, think you, must be that of the Phrygian ladies? Only therefore be kind; nor do you, a fair Spartan, disdain to receive a husband of Phrygia. He was of Phrygia, springing from our race, who is now advanced to temper the nectar of the Gods. Tithonus too was of Phrygia, whom the Goddess that measures out the night received to her rosy bed. Anchises also was a Phrygian, with whom the mother of winged Loves delighted to associate on the summits of Ida. Nor do I think that Menelaus, whether you compare our persons or age, can have the preference, even in your judgement. You certainly will not have a father-in-law who made the sun withdraw his light, and turn away his frighted steeds from the dire banquet. Nor is Priam the son of one stained with the blood of a father-in-law, or whose crime gives a name to the Myrtoan waves. No great-grandfather of mine catches at apples in the Stygian flood, or, set up to the chin in water, is tortured with thirst. But what does this avail me, if one so descended possesses Helen, and Jove himself is a father-in-law to this line? Yet he (O ye Gods) a wretch unworthy of so much happiness, passes whole nights with you, and shares, uninterrupted, your fondest caresses. I can scarcely have a short glance of you at table; and even then there are many things that give me pain. May such feasts fall to the lot of my worst enemies, as those I often meet with in your palace! I repent of my entertainment at his court, when I see him throw his rude arms round your snowy neck. I swell, and am ready to burst with envy (yet why do I thus relate all?) when he folds his flowing robe round your tender limbs. But when you give and take in my presence the melting kisses, I am then forced to take the cup, and hold it before my eyes. As often as you close in strict embraces, I cast my eyes upon the ground; and the loathed food becomes more and more nauseous to my taste. I often sigh to myself, and have observed you repaying my sighs with a scornful smile. Oft have I essayed to conquer my flame with wine; but it continued to increase; and drinking, I found, added fuel to the fire. Sometimes I turned away my eyes, that I might not see too much; but you soon called back my wandering sight. What can I do? I am pierced with grief to witness all; but it is still a greater grief not to gaze upon your charms. I strive with all my power to hide my flame; but the dissembled passion breaks through all restraints. Nor is it my aim to deceive; my wounds are well, to well known to you: O that they were only known to you! How often have I turned away my face, to hide the falling tears, lest he should enquire the cause of my sadness! How oft, when warmed with wine, have I told some tale of love, applying every word to your dear face; and, under a feigned name, have made a discovery of my own passion? In these instances, if you knew it not, I was the true lover. Sometimes I have even feigned intoxication, to excuse my greater freedoms in discourse. Once I remember your loose garments revealed your naked breasts, and discovered them freely to my gazing eyes; breasts whiter than milk, or the purest snow; whiter than Jove, when in the shape of a swan he made love to your mother. Whilst surprised at the sight I stood gazing (for by chance the cup was in my hand), the wreathed handle insensibly slipped from my fingers. If you kissed your young Hermione, I instantly snatched from her lips the envied bliss. Sometimes, laid supinely along, I sang love-songs, and by winks and nods gave secret signs of my flame. I even tried, with all the softness of eloquence, to persuade your favorite attendants, Æthra and Clymene, to promote my addresses: but their answers served only to heighten my despair, and they cruelly deserted me in the midst of my entrea- ties. O that the Gods would make you the reward of some gallant enterprise, and crown the victor with the possession of your charms! As Hippomenes carried off Atalanta, the prize of his dexterity in the chariot-race; as Hippodamia was pressed to the bosom of a Phrygian hero; as brave Alcides broke the horns of the God Achelous, while he fought for the prize of Deianira's charms; my courage would have nobly dared the rude encounter, and you would have soon found yourself the reward of my bravery. Now nought remains but to address you in suppliant prayers, and, prostrate at your feet, embrace your knees. O you who are the glory of your family and ornament of the brother stars! O worthy of the bed of Jove, but that you sprang from himself! I will either re-enter the Phrygian ports, carrying you as my wife; or here, an exile, be covered with Laconian earth. My breast is not lightly pierced with the pointed arrow; the wound hath reached even to my bones. My sister truly foretold (for now I recollect), that I should be wounded by a heavenly dart. Beware therefore, Helen, of despising a love ordamed by the Fates; so may you have the Gods still propitious to your desires! Much more I have to add; but, that I may say all to yourself, receive me into your apartment during the silent night. Are you ashamed? Or do you fear to loosen the matrimonial tie, or violate the just rights of a lawful bed? Is it possible then, Helen, you should be so simple as to fancy, that so lovely a face can be exempt from faults? Either change that face, or you must be less cruel; for chastity and beauty are ever at variance. Even Jupiter, and lovely Venus herself, indulge these stolen delights. It is in consequence of these that you boast of Jupiter for your father. If you retain aught of your parents, can the daughter of Jupiter and Leda be chaste? Yet then may you be chaste, when I with you shall have reached Troy; and let a compliance with me be your only crime. Let us now commit a fault which marriage shall afterwards amend, if Venus has not deluded me be false promises. Even your husband, if not by words, yet by his actions, persuades you to this; and, that he may not be an obstacle to the stolen joys of his guest, he is absent. Had he no time more opportune for a visit to the isle of Crete? O husband of wonderful sagacity! He went, and in going said, My dear, I recommend it to you, that you take the same care of our Idean guest, as you are wont to do of me. You neglect (I aver it) the commands of your absent husband, nor ever think about the care of your guest. And can you hope, fairest Tyndaris, that one of so little discretion understands the just value of such a treasure of charms? You are deceived; he is far from understanding it; nor, if he thought the jewel valuable, would he trust it in the hands of a stranger. If neither my persuasions, nor the ardor of my passion, avail; yet how can we avoid taking advantage of the inviting opportunity? We should exceed even him in folly, if we should neglect a conjuncture so secure and tempting. He has, in a manner, with his own hands, forced a lover upon you; let us then make the best of the simplicity of this thoughtless man. You lie in a solitary bed during the long winter nights: I also lie single in a desolate bed. Let mutual joys join us strictly together; and that night will outshine the brightest noon. Then will I swear by all the powers above, and bind myself to you for ever in your own words. Then, if my confidence does not deceive me. I will prevail that you fly with me to my kingdom. If shame and fear dissuade you from the appearance of a voluntary flight, I will free you from blame, by taking all the crime upon myself. For I will follow the example of Theseus and your brothers; nor are there any others that can touch you more nearly; Theseus carried you off, and they bore away the two daughters of Leucippus; I shall be named the fourth, in this illustrious roll. The Trojan fleet is at hand, well appointed with arms and men: oars and an inviting gale shall forward us with nimble speed. You shall walk a mighty queen through the cities of Phrygia, and the people will adore you as a new deity. Whereever you tread, the finest spices shall smoke, and the falling victims beat the bloody ground. My brothers, my sisters and mother, will load you with gifts; the Ilian matrons and all Troy following the example. Alas! all I have yet said is nothing; you shall there meet with much more than this letter mentions. Nor fear that this rape will draw after it a cruel war, or that powerful Greece will summon her strength to recover you. Who, of the many that have been thus stolen, was demanded back by arms? These, trust me, are vain and frivolous fears. The Thracians, under the name of Boreas, stole the daughter of Erechtheus; and yet the kingdom of Thrace was not attacked by war. Jason of Thessaly carried off in his flying bark the Colchian maid; yet Thessaly was got invaded or distressed by an army from Colchis. Theseus too, who stole you, stole also the daughter of Minos; yet Minos did not once think of arming the Cretans to recover her. In these cases, the fear always exceeds the danger; and, when that is over, we begin to be ashamed of our fear. But suppose, if you will, that a dreadful war may ensure; I have strength to repel it, and my darts can wound. Nor does the power of Asia yield to that of Greece;—it is a rich land, abounding both in men and horses. Nor does Menelaus exceed Paris in bravery, or deserve the preference for military skill. While I was a mere boy, I recovered the stolen herds after slaying my foes, and thence borrowed a new name. While yet a boy, I carried off the prize in various exercises from the other youths, among whom were even Ilioneus and Deiphobus. Nor think that I am only to be dreaded in close combat; my arrows always hit the appointed mark. Can you ascribe to him these acts of early youth? Can you honor the son of Atreus with my envied skill? But were you to allow him all these, will you also boast that he has such a brother as Hector? This one hero is equivalent to whole armies. You know not the extent of my power; my strength is in a great measure hidden from you; nor do you imagine what kind of man he is, who solicits to be received for your husband. Either therefore no war will be raised to demand you back; or the Grecian army must be vanquished by my superior force. Nor think that I shall be unwilling to draw the sword for such a wife. A prize so noble, is well worthy of the contest. You too, if all the world should arm for your sake, will acquire a name famous to the remotest ages. Fly hence then, full of hope, while the Gods are propitious, and demand with full assurance that I make good these promises. |
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Helene Paridi Nunc oculos tua cum violarit epistula nostros , Non rescribendi gloria visa levis . Ausus es hospitii temeratis advena sacris Legitimam nuptae sollicitare fidem ! Scilicet idcirco ventosa per aequora vectum Excepit portu Taenaris ora suo , Nec tibi , diversa quamvis e gente venires , Oppositas habuit regia nostra fores , Esset ut officii merces iniuria tanti ! Qui sic intrabas , hospes an hostis eras ? Nec dubito , quin haec , cum sit tam iusta , vocetur Rustica iudicio nostra querela tuo . Rustica sim sane , dum non oblita pudoris , Dumque tenor vitae sit sine labe meae . Si non est ficto tristis mihi vultus in ore , Nec sedeo duris torva superciliis , Fama tamen clara est , et adhuc sine crimine vixi , Et laudem de me nullus adulter habet . Quo magis admiror , quae sit fiducia coepti , Spemque tori dederit quae tibi causa mei . An , quia vim nobis Neptunius attulit heros , Rapta semel videor bis quoque digna rapi ? Crimen erat nostrum , si delenita fuissem ; Cum sim rapta , meum quid nisi nolle fuit ? Non tamen e facto fructum tulit ille petitum ; Excepto redii passa timore nihil . Oscula luctanti tantummodo pauca protervus Abstulit ; ulterius nil habet ille mei . Quae tua nequitia est , non his contenta fuisset — Di melius ! similis non fuit ille tui . Reddidit intactam , minuitque modestia crimen , Et iuvenem facti paenituisse patet ; Thesea paenituit , Paris ut succederet illi , Ne quando nomen non sit in ore meum ? Nec tamen irascor — quis enim succenset amanti ? — Si modo , quem praefers , non simulatur amor . Hoc quoque enim dubito — non quod fiducia desit , Aut mea sit facies non bene nota mihi ; Sed quia credulitas damno solet esse puellis , Verbaque dicuntur vestra carere fide . At peccant aliae , matronaque rara pudica est . Quis prohibet raris nomen inesse meum ? Nam mea quod visa est tibi mater idonea , cuius Exemplo flecti me quoque posse putes , Matris in admisso falsa sub imagine lusae Error inest ; pluma tectus adulter erat . Nil ego , si peccem , possum nescisse , nec ullus Error qui facti crimen obumbret erit . Illa bene erravit vitiumque auctore redemit . Felix in culpa quo Iove dicar ego ? Sed genus et proavos et regia nomina iactas . Clara satis domus haec nobilitate sua est . Iuppiter ut soceri proavus taceatur et omne Tantalidae Pelopis Tyndareique decus , Dat mihi Leda Iovem cygno decepta parentem , Quae falsam gremio credula fovit avem . I nunc et Phrygiae late primordia gentis Cumque suo Priamum Laumedonte refer ! Quos ego suspicio ; sed qui tibi gloria magna est Quintus , is a nostro nomine primus erit . Sceptra tuae quamvis rear esse potentia terrae , Non tamen haec illis esse minora puto . Si iam divitiis locus hic numeroque virorum Vincitur , at certe barbara terra tua est . Munera tanta quidem promittit epistula dives Ut possint ipsas illa movere deas ; Sed si iam vellem fines transire pudoris , Tu melior culpae causa futurus eras . Aut ego perpetuo famam sine labe tenebo , Aut ego te potius quam tua dona sequar ; Utque ea non sperno , sic acceptissima semper Munera sunt , auctor quae pretiosa facit . Plus multo est , quod amas , quod sum tibi causa laboris , Quod per tam longas spes tua venit aquas . Illa quoque , adposita quae nunc facis , inprobe , mensa , Quamvis experiar dissimulare , noto — Cum modo me spectas oculis , lascive , protervis , Quos vix instantes lumina nostra ferunt , Et modo suspiras , modo pocula proxima nobis Sumis , quaque bibi , tu quoque parte bibis . A , quotiens digitis , quotiens ego tecta notavi Signa supercilio paene loquente dari ! Et saepe extimui ne vir meus illa videret , Non satis occultis erubuique notis ! Saepe vel exiguo vel nullo murmure dixi : 'Nil pudet hunc .' nec vox haec mea falsa fuit . Orbe quoque in mensae legi sub nomine nostro , Quod deducta mero littera fecit , amo . Credere me tamen hoc oculo renuente negavi — Ei mihi , iam didici sic ego posse loqui ! His ego blanditiis , si peccatura fuissem , Flecterer ; his poterant pectora nostra capi . Est quoque , confiteor , facies tibi rara , potestque Velle sub amplexus ire puella tuos ; Altera vel potius felix sine crimine fiat , Quam cadat externo noster amore pudor . Disce modo exemplo formosis posse carere ; Est virtus placitis abstinuisse bonis . Quam multos credis iuvenes optare quod optas , Qui sapiant ? oculos an Paris unus habes ? Non tu plus cernis , sed plus temerarius audes : Nec tibi plus cordis , sed nimis oris , adest . Tunc ego te vellem celeri venisse carina , Cum mea virginitas mille petita procis ; Si te vidissem , primus de mille fuisses . Iudicio veniam vir dabit ipse meo . Ad possessa venis praeceptaque gaudia , serus ; Spes tua lenta fuit ; quod petis , alter habet . Ut tamen optarim fieri tua Troica coniunx , Invitam sic me nec Menelaus habet . Desine molle , precor , verbis convellere pectus , Neve mihi , quam te dicis amare , noce ; Sed sine quam tribuit sortem fortuna tueri , Nec spolium nostri turpe pudoris ave ! At Venus hoc pacta est , et in altae vallibus Idae Tres tibi se nudas exhibuere deae , Unaque cum regnum , belli daret altera laudem , 'Tyndaridis coniunx ,' tertia dixit , 'eris !' Credere vix equidem caelestia corpora possum Arbitrio formam supposuisse tuo , Utque sit hoc verum , certe pars altera ficta est , Iudicii pretium qua data dicor ego . Non est tanta mihi fiducia corporis , ut me Maxima teste dea dona fuisse putem . Contenta est oculis hominum mea forma probari ; Laudatrix Venus est invidiosa mihi . Sed nihil infirmo ; faveo quoque laudibus istis — Nam , mens , vox quare , quod cupit esse , neget ? Nec tu succense , nimium mihi creditus aegre ; Tarda solet magnis rebus inesse fides . Prima mea est igitur Veneri placuisse voluptas ; Proxima , me visam praemia summa tibi , Nec te Palladios nec te Iunonis honores Auditis Helenae praeposuisse bonis . Ergo ego sum virtus , ego sum tibi nobile regnum ! Ferrea sim , si non hoc ego pectus amem . Ferrea , crede mihi , non sum ; sed amare repugno Illum , quem fieri vix puto posse meum . Quid bibulum curvo proscindere litus aratro , Spemque sequi coner quam locus ipse negat ? Sum rudis ad Veneris furtum , nullaque fidelem — Di mihi sunt testes — lusimus arte virum . Nunc quoque , quod tacito mando mea verba libello , Fungitur officio littera nostra novo . Felices , quibus usus adest ! ego nescia rerum Difficilem culpae suspicor esse viam . Ipse malo metus est ; iam nunc confundor , et omnes In nostris oculos vultibus esse reor . Nec reor hoc falso ; sensi mala murmura vulgi , Et quasdam voces rettulit Aethra mihi . At tu dissimula , nisi si desistere mavis ! Sed cur desistas ? dissimulare potes . Lude , sed occulte ! maior , non maxima , nobis Est data libertas , quod Menelaus abest . Ille quidem procul est , ita re cogente , profectus ; Magna fuit subitae iustaque causa viae — Aut mihi sic visum est . ego , cum dubitaret an iret , 'Quam primum ,' dixi , 'fac rediturus eas !' Omine laetatus dedit oscula , 'res ' que 'domusque Et tibi sit curae Troicus hospes ,' ait . Vix tenui risum , quem dum conpescere luctor , Nil illi potui dicere praeter 'erit .' Vela quidem Creten ventis dedit ille secundis ; Sed tu non ideo cuncta licere puta ! Sic meus hinc vir abest ut me custodiat absens — An nescis longas regibus esse manus ? Forma quoque est oneri ; nam quo constantius ore Laudamur vestro , iustius ille timet . Quae iuvat , ut nunc est , eadem mihi gloria damno est , Et melius famae verba dedisse fuit . Nec , quod abest hic me tecum , mirare , relicta ; Moribus et vitae credidit ille meae . De facie metuit , vitae confidit , et illum Securum probitas , forma timere facit . Tempora ne pereant ultro data praecipis , utque Simplicis utamur commoditate viri . Et libet et timeo , nec adhuc exacta voluntas Est satis ; in dubio pectora nostra labant . Et vir abest nobis , et tu sine coniuge dormis , Inque vicem tua me , te mea forma capit ; Et longae noctes , et iam sermone coimus , Et tu , me miseram ! blandus , et una domus . Et peream , si non invitant omnia culpam ; Nescio quo tardor sed tamen ipsa metu ! Quod male persuades , utinam bene cogere posses ! Vi mea rusticitas excutienda fuit . Utilis interdum est ipsis iniuria passis . Sic certe felix esse coacta forem . Dum novus est , potius coepto pugnemus amori ! Flamma recens parva sparsa residit aqua . Certus in hospitibus non est amor ; errat , ut ipsi , Cumque nihil speres firmius esse , fugit . Hypsipyle testis , testis Minoia virgo est , In non exhibitis utraque lusa toris . Tu quoque dilectam multos , infide , per annos Diceris Oenonen destituisse tuam . Nec tamen ipse negas ; et nobis omnia de te Quaerere , si nescis , maxima cura fuit . Adde , quod , ut cupias constans in amore manere , Non potes . expediunt iam tua vela Phryges ; Dum loqueris mecum , dum nox sperata paratur , Qui ferat in patriam , iam tibi ventus erit . Cursibus in mediis novitatis plena relinques Gaudia ; cum ventis noster abibit amor . An sequar , ut suades , laudataque Pergama visam Pronurus et magni Laumedontis ero ? Non ita contemno volucris praeconia famae , Ut probris terras inpleat illa meis . Quid de me poterit Sparte , quid Achaia tota , Quid gentes Asiae , quid tua Troia loqui ? Quid Priamus de me , Priami quid sentiet uxor , Totque tui fratres Dardanidesque nurus ? Tu quoque , qui poteris fore me sperare fidelem , Et non exemplis anxius esse tuis ? Quicumque Iliacos intraverit advena portus , Is tibi solliciti causa timoris erit . Ipse mihi quotiens iratus 'adultera !' dices , Oblitus nostro crimen inesse tuum ! Delicti fies idem reprehensor et auctor . Terra , precor , vultus obruat ante meos ! At fruar Iliacis opibus cultuque beato , Donaque promissis uberiora feram ; Purpura nempe mihi pretiosaque texta dabuntur , Congestoque auri pondere dives ero ! Da veniam fassae — non sunt tua munera tanti ; Nescio quo tellus me tenet ista modo . Quis mihi , si laedar , Phrygiis succurret in oris ? Unde petam fratres , unde parentis opem ? Omnia Medeae fallax promisit Iason — Pulsa est Aesonia num minus illa domo ? Non erat Aeetes , ad quem despecta rediret , Non Idyia parens Chalciopeve soror . Tale nihil timeo — sed nec Medea timebat ! Fallitur augurio spes bona saepe suo . Omnibus invenies , quae nunc iactantur in alto , Navibus a portu lene fuisse fretum . Fax quoque me terret , quam se peperisse cruentam Ante diem partus est tua visa parens ; Et vatum timeo monitus , quos igne Pelasgo Ilion arsurum praemonuisse ferunt . Utque favet Cytherea tibi , quia vicit habetque Parta per arbitrium bina tropaea tuum , Sic illas vereor , quae , si tua gloria vera est , Iudice te causam non tenuere duae ; Nec dubito , quin , te si prosequar , arma parentur . Ibit per gladios , ei mihi ! noster amor . An fera Centauris indicere bella coegit Atracis Haemonios Hippodamia viros — Tu fore tam iusta lentum Menelaon in ira Et geminos fratres Tyndareumque putas ? Quod bene te iactes et fortia facta loquaris , A verbis facies dissidet ista tuis . Apta magis Veneri , quam sunt tua corpora Marti . Bella gerant fortes , tu , Pari , semper ama ! Hectora , quem laudas , pro te pugnare iubeto ; Militia est operis altera digna tuis . His ego , si saperem pauloque audacior essem , Uterer ; utetur , siqua puella sapit — Aut ego deposito sapiam fortasse pudore Et dabo cunctatas tempore victa manus . Quod petis , ut furtim praesentes ista loquamur , Scimus , quid captes conloquiumque voces ; Sed nimium properas , et adhuc tua messis in herba est . Et mora sit voto forsan amica tuo . Hactenus ; arcanum furtivae conscia mentis Littera iam lasso pollice sistat opus . Cetera per socias Clymenen Aethramque loquamur , Quae mihi sunt comites consiliumque duae .
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Helen to Paris WHEN your epistle violated my chaste eyes, it seemed no small glory to write back my resentment. Dare you, a stranger, in defiance of the most sacred rights of hospitality, presume thus to invade the just allegiance of a lawful wife? Was it for this that our Laconian harbours sheltered you from stormy winds and seas? Were our palace gates frankly opened to you, though from a foreign court, that you might return this injury, as the reward of so much good usage? Was it a stranger or an enemy whom we received with so much kindness and friendship? These just complaints, I doubt not, will to your partial judgment appear rustic. Of what consequence is the imputation of rusticity, while my chastity is unstained, and the whole tenor of my life above reproach? Though I have not a countenance severe with dissembled looks, nor form my eye-brows into an artful frown, my fame is yet unspotted; my easy frankness never rose to a crime; nor can any vain seducer boast the spoils of my virtue. I therefore may reasonably be astonished at the bold scheme, and wonder whence your hopes came to share of my favors. Was it because the hero of Neptune's race forced me away? Did you conclude that, being once compelled, I was fit to be made a second prey? Mine would have been the crime, had I been enticed to a compliance; but, as I was carried off by violence, what could I do more than show reluctance? Nor did he ultimately obtain the desired reward of his boldness; I returned unhurt by any thing but fear. The forward youth snatched by rude force a few reluctant kisses; but that was all he ever had of me. You, wicked as you are, would not have been thus satisfied: but the Gods were more favorable; he was of a temper very different from you. He restored me untouched, and by a modest usage atoned for his crime: it is evident that the young man repented the bold insult. Did Theseus repent, that Paris might succeed, and my name never cease to be the object of busy tongues? Nor am I yet displeased, (for who was ever offended with love?) if the affection you profess is sincere and undissembled. But that I doubt; not that I suspect your honor, or distrust the power of my own charms; but, because I know that a too easy faith often proves fatal to our sex, and dissembling man ruins us by feigned professions. What if others yield, or matrons are seldom chaste; may not my name occur among the rare instances of virtue? My mother's story seems, at the first view, a fit example to soften me to a compliance: but my mother was deceived by a borrowed shape, and harmless feathers covered the unsuspected ravisher. If I offend, what have I to plead? by what error can I excuse the darling sin? Her frailty was happily redeemed by the dignity of the ravisher; but what Jupiter will take from the infamy of my crime? You boast your descent from a race of kings and heroes. What then? Our line too is sufficiently ennobled by illustrious names. Not to mention my father-in-law Atreus, the great-grandson of Jupiter, or the honorable pedigree of Tyndareus, and Pelops the son of Tantalus; Leda, deceived by a borrowed shape, who fondly cherished in her bosom the unsuspected bird, gives me Jupiter for my father. Go then, and boast your Phrygian descent, and the honorable race of Priam, which I am far from undervaluing: but Jupiter, who ennobles your line, is the fifth from you, from me the first. The sceptre of Troy I am apt to believe powerful; but still I fancy that our own is not less so. If you exceed us in riches and number of people, yet yours is only a country of barbarians. Your letter is filled with ample promises, such as might move even Goddesses to yield; but if ever I violate the laws of chastity, yourself shall be the more powerful cause of my crime. For either I will always retain my honor without a stain, or follow you, rather than the high hopes you give: not that I despise or slight them; for those gifts are always most acceptable, which derive a value from the giver. But it is still more that you love me, that you run such hazards for my sake, and follow hope through all the dangers of the main. Nor do I overlook the signs you make at our table, though I artfully dissemble all notice. I observe your ardent wistful looks, and those meaning eyes that almost dazzle mine. Sometimes you sigh, and, snatching the cup, fix your lips where mine had been before. Ah! how oft have I marked the hidden signs wafted from your fingers, and the lively language expressed in your eye-brow! I often dreaded that my husband might observe it, and blushed at the too open signs you made. Oft I said murmuring to myself, This man will stick at nothing; nor was my conjecture erroneous. I have also upon the edge of a table read, marked with wine under my own name, I love. I, with a frowning eye, seemed not to believe; but now, alas! I have learned to speak the same language. Were I capable of being won, it must have been by those soft allurements: these only could have made an impression upon my heart. You have (it must be owned) an enchanting face, and charms that may make any one gladly fly to your embraces. A more fortunate maid may possess you with innocence; but my engagements forbid a foreign love. Learn by my example to live without the desired beauty; it is the highest degree of virtue, to abstain from unlawful pleasures. How many youths wish for the same happiness as you, who make no advances? Or do you fancy that Paris only has eyes? It is not that you see better, but that you rashly venture more; your passion is not greater, but your confidence. Oh that you had then visited our coasts in a nimble bark, when a thousand rivals solicited my virgin love! Had you appeared, you would have triumphed over the thousand; nor could my husband have justly blamed my choice. Now, alas! you come too late, to joys that are the right of another; and your slow hope invades a plighted love. But although it would have been more to my wish, to live with you, yet does not Menelaus possess me against my will. Cease then, for heaven's sake, to urge a too sensible heart; nor strive to injure one whom you profess to love. Suffer me to live contented with the lot which fortune has given me, nor aim at the ruin of my unspotted fame. But Venus, you say, promised this reward; and three goddesses offered themselves naked to your judgment in the vales of towering Ida. One offered you a kingdom, another the glory of successful war; and the third promised to make you husband to a daughter of Tyndareus: but I can scarcely believe that heavenly Nymphs would have submitted to your decision in the case of beauty. And were this even true, yet the other part is undoubtedly feigned, where you pretend that I was offered to bribe your judgment. I am not yet so vain of my own charms, as to fancy myself the greatest reward, even in the opinion of the Goddess. I am fully contented with my share of human praise; the applause of Venus can only produce envy. But I deny nothing; these flatteries are also grateful; for why should I reject what I so fondly wish? Nor be you too much displeased, that I am rather incredulous; for things of moment are not credited with ease. My chief joy is to have the applause of Venus; and my next, that I was esteemed the greatest reward by you; that neither the honors offered by Pallas, nor those of Juno, were preferred to the famed beauty of Helen. You therefore chose me in place of valor, in place of a noble kingdom; it would be inhuman, not to receive a heart so wholly mine. But trust me, I am far from being inhuman; and only struggle against loving a man, whom I scarcely can hope ever to possess. Why do I vainly strive to tear up the thirsty sand with a bending plough, and cherish a hope which every thing conspires to deteat? I am a stranger to the artifices of love; witness beaven, that I never yet by any decent abused my faithful husband. And now that I privately commit my thoughts to writing, my hand engages in a new and unusual task. Happy are they whom practice hath rendered expert; I, un-killed in intrigue, imagine the way to vice hedged round with thorns. This fear perpetually haunts me; even now I am covered with blushes, and imagine the eyes of all fixed upon me. Nor is this apprehension wholly groundless; for already the rumor spreads among the crowd: and Æthra accidentally overheard some whispers. It is fit you dissemble all, unless you think it better to desist; but why desist? you who can to well dissemble. Love still, but secretly: the absence of Menelaus gives more freedom, but does not allow of all. He is gone upon a long journey, called by urgent affairs; a great and weighty concern occasioned his sudden departure: at least so it appeared to me. I, seeing him unresolved what to do, said, Go and return with all possible dispatch. He, pleased with the omen, fondly kissed me: To your care, says he, I recommend my palace, my kingdom, and the Trojan guest. Scarcely could I refrain from laughter; and, while I strove to stifle it, I would only answer, It shall be so. He, it is true, spread his sails for Crete with a favorable wind; yet do not, from this, fancy yourself wholly secure. My husband, though absent, has still watchful eyes over me. Are you unacquainted with the proverb, that princes have long hands? My fame too is a great obstacle; for the more lavish you are in my praise, the more reasonable ground has he for suspicion. That glory, once so grateful, is now my bane; far better it had been to be less known to fame. Nor wonder at his absence, or that I am here left with you: he trusted to my virtue and unspotted life. My beauty and shape implied danger; but my probity and fame made him secure. You desire me not to lose so fair a season, or neglect the opportunity given by the simple good-natured man. I am willing, but afraid; my resolution is still unfixed, and my breast glows with all the anguish of suspense. My husband is absent; you pine in a solitary bed, and we are each blest with a form that mutually pleases. The nights are long; we often converse; one house contains us; and you are kind and pressing. Let me die, if all things do not conspire to crown our loves; and yet I do not know what fear still holds me back. It would be better to employ force, than court with words; my bashfulness might have been overcome by a gentle violence. Wrongs are sometimes grateful even to those who suffer them; it is thus I would be made happy by a seeming force: but let us strive rather to suppress in its birth the growing flame; a little water easily extinguishes the kindling spark. Strangers are incapable of a lasting love; their passion wanders like themselves; and while we fondly believe it to be sure and unchanged, all is over. Hypsipyle and the Minoian maid are examples of this, who both were left to mourn their deserted beds. You too, faithless man, are said to have abandoned Œnone, who had been dear to you for so many years. You must not attempt to deny it; for know, that it has been my care to search narrowly into all. Add, that, were you inclined to a constant faithful love, it is not in your power; already the impatient Trojans prepare your sails. While you are yet in discourse with me, while the wished-for night is assigned, a propitious gale calls you away to your own country. You must abandon the unfinished pursuit, and break asunder our new-felt joys; the relentless winds will bear away my love. Shall I then follow, as you advise, and visit the famed towers of Troy? Shall I become a wife to the grandson of mighty Laomedon? I am not yet so indifferent to the reports of spreading fame, as to suffer it thus to fill the earth with the sound of my reproach. What may Sparta say of me, and all Greece? What the nations of Asia, and even your own Troy? What will Priam, Hecuba, and your brothers think? and what will all the modest Phrygian matrons? And even you, what confidence can you have in my fidelity, or how avoid an anxiety from my compliance in your own case? Every stranger who may arrive upon the Phrygian coast will be a fresh cause of fear on my account. In your rage you will not fail to upbraid me with my crime, forgetting the part you bear in it yourself. You, who are the author of my guilt, will be the first to reproach me. O may the earth rather overwhelm me for ever! But I shall shine in Troj in riches, and all the ornaments of a happy dress. You tell me, that I shall meet with a reception far beyond even your promises; that purple and embroidered garments shall be given me; and that I shall be enriched by a mass of gold. But forgive the trank confession; these gifts have no charms for me: the ties that bind me to my own country, are far more powerful. Who among the Phrygians will resent the injuries which may be offered? What aid from brothers or a father could I there implore? Deceitful Jason won Medea by his unbounded promises; but was he less ready to banish her from the house of his father Æson? She had then no Aeetes to whom she could fly for relief, no mother Ipsea, or sister Chalciope to hear her complaints. I indeed fear none of this; but neither did Medea fear: love often contributes to its own deceit. What ship now tossed by stormy waves did not sail first from the port with a favorable wind? I am terrified too by the flaming torch, which, in your mother's dream, seemed to spring from her womb before your birth. Add to this the prophecies which fortell that Ilium shall be consumed with Grecian fire. It is true that Venus favors us, because she carried off the prize, and by your judgement triumphed over two. But then I fear again the resentment of the two, who in this contest, so much to your honor, lost their cause by your sentence. Nor can it be doubetd, if I follow you, that troops will be raised to recover me. Our love (alas!) must make its way through sword and slaughter. Did Hippodamia of Atrace instigate the Thessalian heroes to that cruel slaughter of the Centaurs? And can you fancy that Menclaus will be slow to revenge in so just a cause, or that my brothers and father will not contribute their aid? You boast highly of your valor, and recount your noble acts: but your face gains no great credit to your words. Those limbs are better formed for the delights of Venus, than the rude encounters of Mars: let heroes distinguish themselves in war; Paris will shine in the softer pursuits of love. Hector, whom you so much commend, may bravely defend you against the foe: a different warfare suits those graceful motions. Were I bold and daring as many of my sex, I would throw myself into your soft embraces; but time and you may at last bring me to yield, when, laying aside this foolish shame, I will gladly extend my consenting hand. You demand a private meeting, that you may acquaint me fully with all: I know your meaning, and what you aim at by this conference. But you are too forward; now is your harvest yet come to ripeness. This short delay may perhaps promote the object of your hopes. Thus far my epistle bears the secret message of my heart; but the betraying pen has tired my tender hand. The rest you will learn of Æthra and Clymene, my faithful companions and counsellors. |
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Leander Heroni Mittit Abydenus , quam mallet ferre , salutem , Si cadat unda maris , Sesti puella , tibi . Si mihi di faciles , si sunt in amore secundi , Invitis oculis haec mea verba leges . Sed non sunt faciles ; nam cur mea vota morantur Currere me nota nec patiuntur aqua ? Ipsa vides caelum pice nigrius et freta ventis Turbida perque cavas vix adeunda rates . Unus , et hic audax , a quo tibi littera nostra Redditur , e portu navita movit iter ; Adscensurus eram , nisi quod , cum vincula prorae Solveret , in speculis omnis Abydos erat . Non poteram celare meos , velut ante , parentes , Quemque tegi volumus , non latuisset amor . Protinus haec scribens , 'felix , i , littera !' dixi , 'Iam tibi formosam porriget illa manum . Forsitan admotis etiam tangere labellis , Rumpere dum niveo vincula dente volet .' Talibus exiguo dictis mihi murmure verbis , Cetera cum charta dextra locuta mea est . At quanto mallem , quam scriberet , illa nataret , Meque per adsuetas sedula ferret aquas ! Aptior illa quidem placido dare verbera ponto ; Est tamen et sensus apta ministra mei . Septima nox agitur , spatium mihi longius anno , Sollicitum raucis ut mare fervet aquis . His ego si vidi mulcentem pectora somnum Noctibus , insani sit mora longa freti ! Rupe sedens aliqua specto tua litora tristis Et , quo non possum corpore , mente feror . Lumina quin etiam summa vigilantia turre Aut videt aut acies nostra videre putat . Ter mihi deposita est in sicca vestis harena ; Ter grave temptavi carpere nudus iter — Obstitit inceptis tumidum iuvenalibus aequor , Mersit et adversis ora natantis aquis . At tu , de rapidis inmansuetissime ventis , Quid mecum certa proelia mente geris ? In me , si nescis , Borea , non aequora , saevis ! Quid faceres , esset ni tibi notus amor ? Tam gelidus quod sis , num te tamen , inprobe , quondam Ignibus Actaeis incaluisse negas ? Gaudia rapturo siquis tibi claudere vellet Aerios aditus , quo paterere modo ? Parce , precor , facilemque move moderatius auram — Imperet Hippotades sic tibi triste nihil ! Vana peto ; precibusque meis obmurmurat ipse Quasque quatit , nulla parte coercet aquas . Nunc daret audaces utinam mihi Daedalus alas — Icarium quamvis hinc prope litus abest ! Quidquid erit , patiar , liceat modo corpus in auras Tollere , quod dubia saepe pependit aqua . Interea , dum cuncta negant ventique fretumque , Mente agito furti tempora prima mei . Nox erat incipiens — namque est meminisse voluptas — Cum foribus patriis egrediebar amans . Nec mora , deposito pariter cum veste timore Iactabam liquido bracchia lenta mari . Luna fere tremulum praebebat lumen eunti Ut comes in nostras officiosa vias . Hanc ego suspiciens , 'faveas , dea candida ,' dixi , 'Et subeant animo Latmia saxa tuo ! Non sinit Endymion te pectoris esse severi . Flecte , precor , vultus ad mea furta tuos ! Tu dea mortalem caelo delapsa petebas ; Vera loqui liceat ! — quam sequor ipsa dea est . Neu referam mores caelesti pectore dignos , Forma nisi in veras non cadit illa deas . A Veneris facie non est prior ulla tuaque ; Neve meis credas vocibus , ipsa vide ! Quantum , cum fulges radiis argentea puris , Concedunt flammis sidera cuncta tuis , Tanto formosis formosior omnibus illa est . Si dubitas , caecum , Cynthia , lumen habes .' Haec ego , vel certe non his diversa , locutus Per mihi cedentes sponte ferebar aquas . Unda repercussae radiabat imagine lunae , Et nitor in tacita nocte diurnus erat ; Nullaque vox usquam , nullum veniebat ad aures Praeter dimotae corpore murmur aquae . Alcyones solae , memores Ceycis amati , Nescio quid visae sunt mihi dulce queri . Iamque fatigatis umero sub utroque lacertis Fortiter in summas erigor altus aquas . Ut procul aspexi lumen , 'meus ignis in illo est : Illa meum ,' dixi , 'litora lumen habent !' Et subito lassis vires rediere lacertis , Visaque , quam fuerat , mollior unda mihi . Frigora ne possim gelidi sentire profundi , Qui calet in cupido pectore , praestat amor . Quo magis accedo propioraque litora fiunt , Quoque minus restat , plus libet ire mihi . Cum vero possum cerni quoque , protinus addis Spectatrix animos , ut valeamque facis . Nunc etiam nando dominae placuisse laboro , Atque oculis iacto bracchia nostra tuis . Te tua vix prohibet nutrix descendere in altum — Hoc quoque enim vidi , nec mihi verba dabam . Nec tamen effecit , quamvis retinebat euntem , Ne fieret prima pes tuus udus aqua . Excipis amplexu feliciaque oscula iungis — Oscula , di magni , trans mare digna peti ! — Eque tuis demptos umeris mihi tradis amictus , Et madidam siccas aequoris imbre comam . Cetera nox et nos et turris conscia novit , Quodque mihi lumen per vada monstrat iter . Non magis illius numerari gaudia noctis Hellespontiaci quam maris alga potest ; Quo brevius spatium nobis ad furta dabatur , Hoc magis est cautum , ne foret illud iners . Iamque fugatura Tithoni coniuge noctem Praevius Aurorae Lucifer ortus erat ; Oscula congerimus properata sine ordine raptim Et querimur parvas noctibus esse moras . Atque ita cunctatus monitu nutricis amaro Frigida deserta litora turre peto . Digredimur flentes , repetoque ego virginis aequor Respiciens dominam , dum licet , usque meam . Siqua fides vero est , veniens hinc esse natator , Cum redeo , videor naufragus esse mihi . Hoc quoque , si credes : ad te via prona videtur ; A te cum redeo , clivus inertis aquae . Invitus repeto patriam — quis credere possit ? Invitus certe nunc moror urbe mea . Ei mihi ! cur animis iuncti secernimur undis , Unaque mens , tellus non habet una duos ? Vel tua me Sestos , vel te mea sumat Abydos ; Tam tua terra mihi , quam tibi nostra placet . Cur ego confundor , quotiens confunditur aequor ? Cur mihi , causa levis , ventus obesse potest ? Iam nostros curvi norunt delphines amores , Ignotum nec me piscibus esse reor . Iam patet attritus solitarum limes aquarum , Non aliter multa quam via pressa rota . Quod mihi non esset nisi sic iter , ante querebar ; At nunc per ventos hoc quoque deesse queror . Fluctibus inmodicis Athamantidos aequora canent , Vixque manet portu tuta carina suo ; Hoc mare , cum primum de virgine nomina mersa , Quae tenet , est nanctum , tale fuisse puto . Est satis amissa locus hic infamis ab Helle , Utque mihi parcat , nomine crimen habet . Invideo Phrixo , quem per freta tristia tutum Aurea lanigero vellere vexit ovis ; Nec tamen officium pecoris navisve requiro , Dummodo , quas findam corpore , dentur aquae . Parte egeo nulla ; fiat modo copia nandi , Idem navigium , navita , vector ero ! Nec sequor aut Helicen , aut , qua Tyros utitur , Arcton ; Publica non curat sidera noster amor . Andromedan alius spectet claramque Coronam , Quaeque micat gelido Parrhasis Ursa polo ; At mihi , quod Perseus et cum Iove Liber amarunt , Indicium dubiae non placet esse viae . Est aliud lumen , multo mihi certius istis , Non errat tenebris quo duce noster amor ; Hoc ego dum spectem , Colchos et in ultima Ponti , Quaque viam fecit Thessala pinus , eam , Et iuvenem possim superare Palaemona nando Morsaque quem subito reddidit herba deum . Saepe per adsiduos languent mea bracchia motus , Vixque per inmensas fessa trahuntur aquas . His ego cum dixi : 'pretium non vile laboris , Iam dominae vobis colla tenenda dabo ,' Protinus illa valent , atque ad sua praemia tendunt , Ut celer Eleo carcere missus equus . Ipse meos igitur servo , quibus uror , amores Teque , magis caelo digna puella , sequor . Digna quidem caelo es — sed adhuc tellure morare , Aut dic , ad superos et mihi qua sit iter ! Hic es , et exigue misero contingis amanti , Cumque mea fiunt turbida mente freta . Quid mihi , quod lato non separor aequore , prodest ? Num minus haec nobis tam brevis obstat aqua ? An malim , dubito , toto procul orbe remotus Cum domina longe spem quoque habere meam . Quo propius nunc es , flamma propiore calesco , Et res non semper , spes mihi semper adest . Paene manu quod amo , tanta est vicinia , tango ; Saepe sed , heu , lacrimas hoc mihi 'paene ' movet ! Velle quid est aliud fugientia prendere poma Spemque suo refugi fluminis ore sequi ? Ergo ego te numquam , nisi cum volet unda , tenebo , Et me felicem nulla videbit hiemps , Cumque minus firmum nil sit quam ventus et unda , In ventis et aqua spes mea semper erit ? Aestus adhuc tamen est . quid , cum mihi laeserit aequor Plias et Arctophylax Oleniumque pecus ? Aut ego non novi , quam sim temerarius , aut me In freta non cautus tum quoque mittet amor ; Neve putes id me , quod abest , promittere , tempus , Pignora polliciti non tibi tarda dabo . Sit tumidum paucis etiamnunc noctibus aequor , Ire per invitas experiemur aquas ; Aut mihi continget felix audacia salvo , Aut mors solliciti finis amoris erit ! Optabo tamen ut partis expellar in illas , Et teneant portus naufraga membra tuos ; Flebis enim tactuque meum dignabere corpus Et 'mortis ,' dices , 'huic ego causa fui !' Scilicet interitus offenderis omine nostri , Litteraque invisa est hac mea parte tibi . Desino — parce queri ! sed uti mare finiat iram , Accedant , quaeso , fac tua vota meis . Pace brevi nobis opus est , dum transferor isto ; Cum tua contigero litora , perstet hiemps ! Istic est aptum nostrae navale carinae , Et melius nulla stat mea puppis aqua . Illic me claudat Boreas , ubi dulce morari est ! Tunc piger ad nandum , tunc ego cautus ero , Nec faciam surdis convicia fluctibus ulla , Triste nataturo nec querar esse fretum . Me pariter venti teneant tenerique lacerti , Per causas istic inpediarque duas ! Cum patietur hiemps , remis ego corporis utar ; Lumen in adspectu tu modo semper habe ! Interea pro me pernoctet epistula tecum , Quam precor ut minima prosequar ipse mora !
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Leander to Hero LEANDER of Abydos sends, to his girl of Sestos, those wishes for her health, which he would rather bring himself, if the rage of the sea should abate. If the Gods are favorable, and wish well to my love, you will run over this with discontented eyes. But they, alas! are far from being favorable. Why else are my hopes deferred? why am I forbidden to swim over the known seas? You see that the heavens are dark as pitch; the billows swell with the wind, too fierce to be stemmed by the hollow ships. One mariner, more daring than the rest, who brings you this epistle, ventured to leave the harbour. Here I intended to embark, if, when he weighed anchor, all Abydos had not viewed us from the eminences. I could not, as before, have dissembled with my parents, and that love, which prudence requires us to conceal, would no longer have been unknown. Writing being now my only relief, I wrote: Go, said I, happy epistle! Soon, with a graceful smile, will she extend to thee her fair hand. Perhaps too thou mayest be pressed to her ruby lips, as with her ivory teeth she eagerly breaks the seals. After muttering this in gentle whispers, my ready right-hand quickly marked down the rest. How much would I rather it should dash through the swelling flood, than thus in languishing accents write my complaints! How much rather it should bear me sedulous though the well-known waves! Far better does it indeed serve to lash the foamming deep; yet it is no unfit minister of my warmest thoughts and wishes. It is now the seventh night (a space to me more tedious than a year) that the raging sea has tossed her sounding billows. May the angry sea prolong her rage with ten-fold heat, if in all these lingering nights my distracted breast has tasted the sweets of soothing rest! Mounted on some rocky cliff, I pensive view the beloved shore, and am carried in thought whither I cannot convey myself in person. My eyes too behold, or seem to behold, upon the tower's top, the watchful light that is to guide my course. Thrice I stripped, and laid my clothes upon the dry sand; thrice I attempted, naked, the threatening watery way. But the swelling sea opposed my bold youthful attempts, and, as I swam, overwhelmed me with adverse waves. But you, North, the most inexorable of all the raging winds, why do you obstinately raise up against me a malicious opposition? If you are not already aware, know, that It is against me, and not the seas, that you thus terribly rage. What would you do, were you wholly a stranger to love? Cold as you are, perverse Boreas, you cannot deny that you were once warmed by Actæan fires. When keen to snatch the joys of love, had any one shut up the aërial way, how would you have taken it? Pity me then for heaven's sake, and blow more mildly the gentle gales: so may Æolus lay no harsh commands upon you. In vain I beg: he murmurs and rages at my petitions, nor offers to smoothe the billows which he has so violently agitated. Oh that Dædalus would gift me with daring wings! the Icarian shore so near, causes no terror in me. I will boldly venture, whatever be the issue; let me only mount my body aloft in air, as it has often hovered upon uncertain waves. Meantime, while the winds and waves thus cross all my hopes, I revolve in my mind the first moments of our stolen delights. Night was coming on, (for there is a pleasure in calling to remembrance past enjoyments,) when, full of love, I left the gates of my father's house. Then without delay pulling off my clothes, and casting away at the same time all fear, I with pliant arms cut the yielding tide. The Moon, like a faithful attendant to direct my way, furnished a trembling light as I traversed the flood. Regarding her with a wishful look, "Bright Goddess," I said, "favor my design, and call to mind the happy Latmian cliffs. Endymion cannot allow that you should be of an unrelenting mind; favor therefore with a friendly look these my stolen delights. You, though a Goddess, left heaven in quest of a mortal: Why should I not speak the truth? she whom I pursue is a very Goddess. For, not to mention her manners, the truest tokens of a heavenly mind, a beauty so exquisite can only fall to the share of a Goddess. No face, Venus and you excepted, can equal hers: nor trust entirely to my words, but view her yourself. As all the stars of heaven disappear before your superior brightness, when you shine out in the full splendor of your silver rays; in like manner when she approaches, all other beauties are overlooked. To doubt of this, Cynthia, would be owning yourself destitute of sight." Having addressed her thus, or in words to the like purport, I in the silent night bore through the yielding waves. The surface of the deep shone with the reflection of the moon's rays, and in the dead of night was a light clear as that at mid-day. No voice, no sound reached my ears, but the deep murmurs of the broken waves. The king-fishers alone, mind- ful of the once dearly-loved Ceyx, uttered, in the softest strains, I know not what moving complaints. And now my arms from each shoulder being spent with toil, I raise myself high upon the surface of the waves; and discerning at some distance a light, "My flame (cried I) is there; these shores point out the darling light." Swift as though, my wearied arms feel the returning vigor; and the billows seem to bear me up more gently than before. The love that warms my panting breast, prevents me from feeling the coldness of the briny sea. The more I advance, the nearer I come to the wished-for shore: in fine, as the distance lessens, I feel my strength greater to proceed. But no sooner had I come within sight, than, observing you a spectator from the top of your tower, I felt a new accession of spirits, and a fresh tide of vigor, flowing in upon me. I study to please my mistress, by shewing a dexterity in swimming, and toss my arms graceful in her sight. Scarcely was your tender nurse able to restrain you from rushing into the sea. I saw this also; nor was it an artifice to deceive me. Even all her endeavours could not wholly keep you back: you pressed forward to meet me, till your ancles were covered by the dashing waves. You received me into your embraces, and almost smothered me with fragrant kisses; kisses, (great Gods!) more than a full reward for the dangers of crossing the sea. You gave me the robes which you had taken from your own shoulders, and smoothed my locks wet with briny dew. Ourselves, the night, the tower, and that shining light which guided my way through the uncertain deep, were conscious of the rest. The joys of that happy night are no more to be numbered, than the sea-weed cast upon the shore by the raging waves of the Hellespont. The less the time allowed us for these stolen pleasures, the greater was our care that not a moment should be lost. And now, the wife of Tithonus preparing to drive away the night, Lucifer, the fore-runner of Aurora, rose above the earth. We rushed into each other's arms, and mutually snatched the ardent kisses; we complained of the night, that her stay was so short. At length, after many admonitions from your rigid nurse, and as many delays, I left the tower, and took my way to the cold beach. We parted in sadness: I entered the virginsea, often looking back, while my mistress remained in view. If any credit is due to truth, when making for your coast I swim with cease, but, as I return, am threatened to be overwhelmed. Believe me farther when I tell you, that the way to my Hero is by a gently declining path; but in leaving you I seem to climb an immoveable mountain of waves. Who can believe it? I return to my native country with reluctance: it is now against my will that I remain in my own city. Alas! why, when thus conjoined in inclination, are we separated by the waves? Why, as we have the same mind, do we not inhabit the same soil? Let me either dwell in your Sestos, or you in my Abydos; for the earth which you tread is as dear to me, as that which I tread is to you. Why am I thus troubled as often as the sea is disturbed by storms? Why are the winds an unstable cause of anxiety to me/ The bending dolphins are now conscious of out tender loves; nor are the fishes of the sea strangers to my flame. The course of the well-known waves is now distinctly marked, like a high-way paved by the frequent attrition of the chariot-wheel. I have often complained that there was no way given but this: but now I complain that this also is shut up by the cruel winds. The streights of the Hellespont foam by the breaking of the enormous waves; nor are the ships secure even within their harbours. Such, I imagine, was this raging sea, when it first bore the name of the unhappy virgin. This spot is already too infamous by the fate of Helle; and, though I am spared, the name will be a monument of its crime. I envy Phryxus, who safely crossed those stormy seas upon the ram that yielded the golden fleece. Nor do I yet require the aid of ram or bark; let me have only a smooth sea, that with nimble joints I may plough the yielding deep I depend upon no art; let me only have leave to swim; I will at once be ship, mariner, and pilot. I mind not Helice and Arctos, the constellations that guide the Tyrian mariner. A love like mine asks no aid of vulgar stars. Let others observe Andromeda, or the bright diadem of Ariadne, and the Arcadian Bear that sines from the frozen pole. Nymphs loved by Perseus, Jupiter, and Becchus, are by no means wanted to guide my uncertain paths. I trust to another light, whose directions are much safer: while this points out the way, my love can never wander in darkness. By observing this, I may sail to the Colchian realm, the remotest regions of Pontus, and all the coasts visited by the famed Thessalian ship. In swimming, I would bear away the prize from young Palæmon, and from Glaucus, who was suddenly transformed by powerful herbs into a sea-God. My arms often languish through the continued agitation; and, nearly exhausted with toil, are scarcely able to bear me over the wide sea. But when I tell them, You shall soon receive the glorious reward of your labor, and encircle the snowy neck of your amiable mistress, instantly they gather strength, and eagerly strive to obtain their reward, as when a fleet horse starts from the Elean lists. It is mine, therefore, to observe the flames that glow within my breast, and follow you, my charming fair, who better deserve a place among the stars. You merit indeed to be translated into heaven: yet leave not these earthly abodes; or teach me in what manner I also may be exalted among the Gods. You are still here, and yet how seldom in the embraces of your wretched lover! The seas and my mind are in equal disorder. What avails it that I am not separated from you by a vast ocean? Does this narrow streight less oppose our coming together? I doubt whether it would not be better, that, divided from you by earth's whole extent, I might be equally removed from hope and my mistress. The nearer you are, the more violent is the flame that rages within me; and though the object of my hope is often absent, yet hope itself never ceases to haunt me. I almost touch with my hand (so near our abodes) the darling of my soul. But alas! this almost often fills my eyes with sorrowing tears. Wherein loes this differ from catching at the flying apples, or following after the deceitful flood? Shall I then never hold you in my arms, but when the unstable waves permit? Must storms ever be a bar to my happiness? and while nothing is more uncertain than the winds and waves, must my happiness ever depend upon the winds and waves? It is now too the warm season: what am I to expect when the Pleiades, Arctophylax, and the Goat, deform the sea? Either I mistake in judging of the rash attempts of Love, or even then, thoughtless, he will urge me to plunge into the waves. Nor imagine that I promise this because the time is distant; you shall soon have a proof of the reality of my design. Let the sea continue to rage for a few nights longer: I will again attempt to force my way through the opposing billows. Either, happily daring, I shall safely reach your beloved shore, or a speedy death will put an end to all my anxieties. Yet I could wish to be cast where my Hero lives, and that my shipwrecked limbs might be borne into your ports. You will mourn my fate, and honor my breathless body with a last embrace; then sighing, say, "Alas! I have been the cause of his death." Perhaps you will be offended with this threatening omen of a sudden fate, or alarmed by the suspicions which my letter betrays. But I desist: dispel therefore your fears, and join your prayers with mine, that the rage of the sea may abate. It is requisite that it should be calm for a time, till I convey myself to yonder shore: when once I have reached the coast of my Hero, let the storm return in all its violence. There, is the fittest asylum for my shattered bark; there, my ship may with the greatest security ride at anchor. Let the North-wind shut me up there, where delay is sweet. Then, if ever, I shall be averse to swimming, and cautiously avoid danger. No reproaches will be thrown out against the unrelenting waves; no complaints made, that the sea forbids a return to my native shore. Let me be alike detained by the winds and your folding arms: let both these causes conspire to prolong the sweet delay. When the storm abates, my arms shall cut the liquid way: only remember always to place in view the guiding torch. Till then, let this epistle supply my place; and heaven grant that I may follow it without delay. |
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Hero Leandro Quam mihi misisti verbis , Leandre , salutem Ut possim missam rebus habere , veni ! Longa mora est nobis omnis , quae gaudia differt . Da veniam fassae ; non patienter amo ! Urimur igne pari , sed sum tibi viribus inpar : Fortius ingenium suspicor esse viris . Ut corpus , teneris ita mens infirma puellis — Deficiam , parvi temporis adde moram ! Vos modo venando , modo rus geniale colendo Ponitis in varia tempora longa mora . Aut fora vos retinent aut unctae dona palaestrae , Flectitis aut freno colla sequacis equi ; Nunc volucrem laqueo , nunc piscem ducitis hamo ; Diluitur posito serior hora mero . His mihi summotae , vel si minus acriter urar , Quod faciam , superest praeter amare nihil . Quod superest facio , teque , o mea sola voluptas , Plus quoque , quam reddi quod mihi possit , amo ! Aut ego cum cana de te nutrice susurro , Quaeque tuum , miror , causa moretur iter ; Aut mare prospiciens odioso concita vento Corripio verbis aequora paene tuis ; Aut , ubi saevitiae paulum gravis unda remisit , Posse quidem , sed te nolle venire , queror ; Dumque queror lacrimae per amantia lumina manant , Pollice quas tremulo conscia siccat anus . Saepe tui specto si sint in litore passus , Inpositas tamquam servet harena notas ; Utque rogem de te et scribam tibi , siquis Abydo Venerit , aut , quaero , siquis Abydon eat . Quid referam , quotiens dem vestibus oscula , quas tu Hellespontiaca ponis iturus aqua ? Sic ubi lux acta est et noctis amicior hora Exhibuit pulso sidera clara die , Protinus in summo vigilantia lumina tecto Ponimus , adsuetae signa notamque viae , Tortaque versato ducentes stamina fuso Feminea tardas fallimus arte moras . Quid loquar interea tam longo tempore , quaeris ? Nil nisi Leandri nomen in ore meo est . 'Iamne putas exisse domo mea gaudia , nutrix , An vigilant omnes , et timet ille suos ? Iamne suas umeris illum deponere vestes , Pallade iam pingui tinguere membra putas ?' Adnuit illa fere ; non nostra quod oscula curet , Sed movet obrepens somnus anile caput . Postque morae minimum 'iam certe navigat ,' inquam , 'Lentaque dimotis bracchia iactat aquis .' Paucaque cum tacta perfeci stamina terra , An medio possis , quaerimus , esse freto . Et modo prospicimus , timida modo voce precamur , Ut tibi det faciles utilis aura vias ; Auribus incertas voces captamus , et omnem Adventus strepitum credimus esse tui . Sic ubi deceptae pars est mihi maxima noctis Acta , subit furtim lumina fessa sopor . Forsitan invitus mecum tamen , inprobe , dormis , Et , quamquam non vis ipse venire , venis . Nam modo te videor prope iam spectare natantem , Bracchia nunc umeris umida ferre meis , Nunc dare , quae soleo , madidis velamina membris , Pectora nunc nostro iuncta fovere sinu Multaque praeterea linguae reticenda modestae , Quae fecisse iuvat , facta referre pudet . Me miseram ! brevis est haec et non vera voluptas ; Nam tu cum somno semper abire soles . Firmius , o , cupidi tandem coeamus amantes , Nec careant vera gaudia nostra fide ! Cur ego tot viduas exegi frigida noctes ? Cur totiens a me , lente morator , abes ? Est mare , confiteor , non nunc tractabile nanti ; Nocte sed hesterna lenior aura fuit . Cur ea praeterita est ? cur non ventura timebas ? Tam bona cur periit , nec tibi rapta via est ? Protinus ut similis detur tibi copia cursus , Hoc melior certe , quo prior , illa fuit . At cito mutata est pacati forma profundi . Tempore , cum properas , saepe minore venis . Hic , puto , deprensus nil , quod querereris , haberes , Meque tibi amplexo nulla noceret hiemps . Certe ego tum ventos audirem laeta sonantis , Et numquam placidas esse precarer aquas . Quid tamen evenit , cur sis metuentior undae Contemptumque prius nunc vereare fretum ? Nam memini , cum te saevum veniente minaxque Non minus , aut multo non minus , aequor erat ; Cum tibi clamabam : 'sic tu temerarius esto , Ne miserae virtus sit tua flenda mihi !' Unde novus timor hic , quoque illa audacia fugit ? Magnus ubi est spretis ille natator aquis ? Sis tamen hoc potius , quam quod prius esse solebas , Et facias placidum per mare tutus iter — Dummodo sis idem , dum sic , ut scribis , amemur , Flammaque non fiat frigidus illa cinis . Non ego tam ventos timeo mea vota morantes , Quam similis vento ne tuus erret amor , Ne non sim tanti , superentque pericula causam , Et videar merces esse labore minor . Interdum metuo , patria ne laedar et inpar Dicar Abydeno Thressa puella toro . Ferre tamen possum patientius omnia , quam si Otia nescio qua paelice captus agis , In tua si veniunt alieni colla lacerti , Fitque novus nostri finis amoris amor . A , potius peream , quam crimine vulnerer isto , Fataque sint culpa nostra priora tua ! Nec , quia venturi dederis mihi signa doloris , Haec loquor aut fama sollicitata nova . Omnia sed vereor — quis enim securus amavit ? Cogit et absentes plura timere locus . Felices illas , sua quas praesentia nosse Crimina vera iubet , falsa timere vetat ! Nos tam vana movet , quam facta iniuria fallit , Incitat et morsus error uterque pares . O utinam venias , aut ut ventusve paterve Causaque sit certe femina nulla morae ! Quodsi quam sciero , moriar , mihi crede , dolendo ; Iamdudum pecca , si mea fata petis ! Sed neque peccabis , frustraque ego terreor istis , Quoque minus venias , invida pugnat hiemps . Me miseram ! quanto planguntur litora fluctu , Et latet obscura condita nube dies ! Forsitan ad pontum mater pia venerit Helles , Mersaque roratis nata fleatur aquis — An mare ab inviso privignae nomine dictum Vexat in aequoream versa noverca deam ? Non favet , ut nunc est , teneris locus iste puellis ; Hac Helle periit , hac ego laedor aqua . At tibi flammarum memori , Neptune , tuarum Nullus erat ventis inpediendus amor — Si neque Amymone nec , laudatissima forma , Criminis est Tyro fabula vana tui , Lucidaque Alcyone Calyceque Hecataeone nata , Et nondum nexis angue Medusa comis , Flavaque Laudice caeloque recepta Celaeno , Et quarum memini nomina lecta mihi . Has certe pluresque canunt , Neptune , poetae Molle latus lateri conposuisse tuo . Cur igitur , totiens vires expertus amoris , Adsuetum nobis turbine claudis iter ? Parce , ferox , latoque mari tua proelia misce ! Seducit terras haec brevis unda duas . Te decet aut magnas magnum iactare carinas , Aut etiam totis classibus esse trucem ; Turpe deo pelagi iuvenem terrere natantem , Gloriaque est stagno quolibet ista minor . Nobilis ille quidem est et clarus origine , sed non A tibi suspecto ducit Ulixe genus . Da veniam servaque duos ! natat ille , sed isdem Corpus Leandri , spes mea pendet aquis . Sternuit en lumen ! — posito nam scribimus illo — Sternuit et nobis prospera signa dedit . Ecce , merum nutrix faustos instillat in ignes , 'Cras ' que 'erimus plures ,' inquit , et ipsa bibit . Effice nos plures , evicta per aequora lapsus , O penitus toto corde recepte mihi ! In tua castra redi , socii desertor amoris ; Ponuntur medio cur mea membra toro ? Quod timeas , non est ! auso Venus ipsa favebit , Sternet et aequoreas aequore nata vias . Ire libet medias ipsi mihi saepe per undas , Sed solet hoc maribus tutius esse fretum . Nam cur hac vectis Phrixo Phrixique sorore Sola dedit vastis femina nomen aquis ? Forsitan ad reditum metuas ne tempora desint , Aut gemini nequeas ferre laboris onus . At nos diversi medium coeamus in aequor Obviaque in summis oscula demus aquis , Atque ita quisque suas iterum redeamus ad urbes ; Exiguum , sed plus quam nihil illud erit ! Vel pudor hic utinam , qui nos clam cogit amare , Vel timidus famae cedere vellet amor ! Nunc , male res iunctae , calor et reverentia pugnant . Quid sequar , in dubio est ; haec decet , ille iuvat . Ut semel intravit Colchos Pagasaeus Iason , Inpositam celeri Phasida puppe tulit ; Ut semel Idaeus Lacedaemona venit adulter , Cum praeda rediit protinus ille sua . Tu quam saepe petis , quod amas , tam saepe relinquis , Et quotiens grave sit puppibus ire , natas . Sic tamen , o iuvenis tumidarum victor aquarum , Sic facito spernas , ut vereare , fretum ! Arte laboratae merguntur ab aequore naves ; Tu tua plus remis bracchia posse putas ? Quod cupis , hoc nautae metuunt , Leandre , natare ; Exitus hic fractis puppibus esse solet . Me miseram ! cupio non persuadere , quod hortor , Sisque , precor , monitis fortior ipse meis — Dummodo pervenias excussaque saepe per undas Inicias umeris bracchia lassa meis ! Sed mihi , caeruleas quotiens obvertor ad undas , Nescio quo pavidum frigore pectus hebet . Nec minus hesternae confundor imagine noctis , Quamvis est sacris illa piata meis . Namque sub aurora , iam dormitante lucerna , Somnia quo cerni tempore vera solent , Stamina de digitis cecidere sopore remissis , Collaque pulvino nostra ferenda dedi . Hic ego ventosas nantem delphina per undas Cernere non dubia sum mihi visa fide , Quem postquam bibulis inlisit fluctus harenis , Unda simul miserum vitaque deseruit . Quidquid id est , timeo ; nec tu mea somnia ride Nec nisi tranquillo bracchia crede mari ! Si tibi non parcis , dilectae parce puellae , Quae numquam nisi te sospite sospes ero ! Spes tamen est fractis vicinae pacis in undis ; Tu placidas toto pectore finde vias ! Interea nanti , quoniam freta pervia non sunt , Leniat invisas littera missa moras .
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Hero to Leander COME, my Leander, that I may really enjoy that welfare which you so kindly wish me in your letter. Every delay that stands in the way of our happiness seems doubly tedious. Pardon the confession; but I love not according to the common measure. We glow with an equal flame; but my strength is unequal to yours; for I imagine that men are endued with more steady and resolute souls. In women the mind is weak, as well as the body. Delay a little longer, and I sink under the weight of your absence. You can elude the tedious hours, by differently dividing your time; sometimes intent upon hunting, sometimes employed in cultivating the prolific earth. The forum perhaps may interpose, or the inviting honors of the palæstra: perhaps you are busy in forming the generous steed, and teaching him to obey the rein. Now snares are laid for the feathered tribe; now hooks are baited for the finny prey; and the lingering hours of night are lost in copious goblets of wine. As for me, to whom all these reliefs are denied, what remains, were I even less the slave of a headstrong passion, but to love and endure? It is so: I indulge this sole relief, and love you, O my only happiness, above expression or return. Either I engage with my faithful nurse in silent discourse about you, and wonder what cause can so long delay your coming; or, casting a look upon the sea, I chide, almost in your own words, the waves tossed by spiteful winds: or, when the angry sea remits a little of its rage, I complain that you might, but have no desire to come. Amidst these complaints, the tears flow in streams from my love-sick eyes, and are wiped away by the trembling hand of my aged nurse. I often search if I can find the prints of your feet upon the shore, as if sand could retain the deepening mark. Eager to hear of you, or write to you, I am always enquiring whether any one has arrived from Abydos, or who thinks of going thither. Why should I mention the many kisses I lavish upon the clothes you put off, when about to plunge into the waters of the Hellespont? But when light vanishes, and the more friendly hour of night, in chasing away the day, exhibits the sparkling stars; forthwith we plant the watchful light upon the tower's top, the known guide and mark of your watery way; and, lengthening by the swiftly-turning spindle the twisted threads, elude the tedious hours in feminine employment. Perhaps you may enquire what I am talking all this while. No name but that of Leander is in your Hero's mouth. "What do you say, my nurse; do you think that my only hope has yet left his father's house? or are all awake, and is he afraid of being observed by his parents? Do you think that he is now pulling the clothes from his shoulders, and anointing his limbs with oil?" She gives a nod of assent; not that she is moved by my embraces, but sleep, gently stealing upon her, shakes her aged head. Then, after a short delay, I say, "It is certain now that he swims, and tosses his pliant arms amidst the yielding waves." Then, after finishing a few treads, in letting the winding spindle touch the ground, I ask whether you may have yet reached the middle of the streight. Sometimes I look wishfully forward; sometimes I pray with a faltering voice, that propitious gales may give you an easy run. I greedily catch at every sound, and fondly imagine I hear the noise of your approach. When thus the greater part of the eluded night is past, sleep insensibly steals upon my wearied eyes. Then in dreams I find you by my side, and perhaps much against your will, you are induced to come. For sometimes I seem to behold you swimming near the shore, sometimes you recline your humid arms upon my shoulders: now I reach you the robe to throw round your yet moist limbs; anon I clasp you shivering to my panting breast; with much more besides, not fit to be mentioned by a modest pen; what in doing may give great pleasure, but which when done delicacy forbids me to name. Unhappy wretch! it is but a short and fleeting pleasure; for you always vanish with my dream. Grant, Heaven, that such ardent lovers may at length be joined together by surer bonds, nor let our enjoyments be destitute of a firm basis. Why have I passed cold and comfortless so many solitary nights? Why, my dear swimmer, are you so slow; why so often absent from me? The sea, I own, is rough and intractable; but last night it blew a gentler gale. Why was that opportunity lost? why did you not dread that following storms might hinder you? why was so fair an offer suffered to escape, and no attempt made? Should a like opportunity of crossing with case invite you, yet the other, as first in time, was far the best. Soon, it is true, was the face of the troubled deep changed: but, when eager, you have hastened across it in a shorter time. If you are detained here by storms, ought this to make you complain? No tempestuous sea can hurt you when locked in my embraces. I could then calmly listen to the loud threatening winds, nor fatigue Heaven with prayers to smooth the swelling deep. But what has lately happended to cause this unusual dread of the sea? why do you tremble at those waves you formerly despised? For I remember your coming when the sea was no less obstinate and threatening, or at least not much less so. Then I conjured you to be wisely daring, that I might not have cause to lament the fatal effects of your boldness. Whence arises this new fear? Whither has your former courage fled? where is that illustrious swimmer, who nobly despised the threatening waves? Yet rather continue thus, than again expose yourself to former hazards, and plunge secure into a calm inviting sea; provided only you are unalterably the same, provided you love with the same ardor with which you write, and this noble flame never changes into cold lifeless ashes. I am not so much afraid of the winds that disappoint my earnest wishes, as of your love, that it may prove, like the wind, changeable and inconstant. I fear the not being held in the same esteem; that the dangers may be thought greater than the reward, or that I am accounted too mean a recompence of your toil. Sometimes I am uneasy, from an idea that my country may detract from me, and that a Thracian girl may seem an unequal match for a citizen of Abydos. Yet I can patiently bear any affliction whatever, sooner than the apprehension of your being detained by another flame. Ah! let me rather perish, than suffer under so cruel a distress; may fate end my days before I hear of the dreadful crime! Nor do I mention this from any reason you give me to suspect approaching grief, or because I am alarmed by some new spreading rumor. But I am subject to every fear; (for when did love yet settle in a quiet mind?) distance and absence feed my anxious thoughts. Happy they, who, always together, know at once what they have to fear, nor feel the piercing grief of false alarms. We are as much disturbed by unjust fears, as ignorant of real injuries; and each error begets equal anxiety. Oh how I wish that you were here, that either the winds or your parents, and no rival fair, may be the cause of your long stay! For, believe me, to hear of a rival would kill me with grief; and it is now long that you have been in fault, if you thus aim at my destruction. But you are not in fault: these my terrors I know are groundless; the envious winds alone oppose your desired approach. Dreadful! how the shores are lashed by the vast billows! How the day is hidden by gathering clouds! Perhaps the disconsolate mother of Helle hovers over the deep, and her unhappy daughter is lamented in distilling drops. Or does her step-mother, changed into a sea-goddess, deform the channel that bears the hated name of her daughter-in-law? This sea, such as it is now, is far from being propitious to tender maids. Here Helle perished: I also am crossed by these obstinate waves. But you surely, Neptune, if you call to mind your many flames, can never be an enemy to gentle love; if neither Amymone, nor Tyro of exquisite form, are vain rumours of your guilt; if fair Alcyone, Circe, and the daughter of Alymone; Medusa (her hair not yet wreathed with serpents), blooming Laodice, and Celæno ranked among the stars, with many other names I remember to have read, were ever dear to you. These, Neptune, with many more, are sung by the poets to have lain in your embraces. Why then, having yourself so often felt the power of love, do you shut up the accustomed way by rough whirlwinds? Be mild, stern father, and reserve your tumults for the wide ocean. This is merely an arm of the sea, that disjoins two neighbouring tracts. It is yours, triumphant, to toss the vast bulk of ships, or sternly boisterous disperse whole fleets. It is below the God of the ocean to terrify an adventurous youth; a praise unworthy the boast of the meanest lake. He indeed is the noble offspring of an illustrious line, but derives not his pedigree from Ulysses of hated memory. Permit him then to come, and save the life of two. He only, it is true, swims; but my hope hangs upon the same waves with Leander. Hark! the taper crackles; for it burns beside me as I write: it crackles, and gives propitious signs. See, my nurse pours wine upon flames that yield a favorable omen: she cries, To-morrow we shall be more, and bears the goblet to her mouth. O Leander, whose image only fills my heart, strive to surmount the dividing waves, and add in yourself another to our number. Return to your own camp, thou deserter of social love. Why are my limbs single in the midst of the bed? Nor is there any ground of fear: Venus herself will favour the attempt; and, sprung from the sea, will smooth the sea-green way. I have oft myself resolved to plunge amidst the waves; but this stormy streight is more favorable to the other sex. For why, when attempted by Phryxus and his sister, did she only give name to this vast bulk of water? Perhaps you fear there will be no opportunity of returning, or you cannot bear a weight of double toil. Let us then, setting out from opposite shores, meet in the midst of the sea, and snatch the mutual kisses upon the surface of the waves. Let us then each return home; a small enjoyment indeed, but still better than none! How could I wish that powerful shame, which obliges us thus to conceal our love, would yield to desire, or trembling love give way to the dictates of fame! Honor and passion (things alas! incompatible) combat each other. Which shall I follow, or where end my suspense? On one side is decency, on the other pleasure. Jason of Thessaly, soon after entering Colchis, bore away Medea in his nimble bark. When the faithless Trojan had once arrived at Lacedæmon, he quickly returned triumphant with his prey. As often as you grasp the object of your love, you abandon her; and swim even then when it is dangerous for ships to cut the liquid way. But yet remember, O daring youth, who have so often braved the swelling waves, that you so despise the threatening deep, as not to venture rashly in times of danger. Ships, formed with exquisite art, are often mastered by the foaming sea: can your feeble arms cut the deep like laboring oars? You, Leander, fondly spring forward to swim, an attempt that startles the daring mariner; this is their last resource when compelled by shipwreck. Alas, how unhappy! I want to dissuade you from what I yet carnestly wish, and pray you may be bolder than my own admonitions allow: yet so that you may still come safe, and clasp my exulting shoulders with your wearied arms, often plunged in the foaming waves. But as often as I turn my eyes towards the blue extent of the sea, I know not what coldness spreads over my panting breast. Nor am I less disturbed by the vision of last night, although expiated by many sacred rites. For about the approach of morning, when the taper gave a faint and glimmering light (at the time when dreams are usually accounted true), my fingers, deadened with sleep, had dropped the lengthening threads, and my neck was gently reclined on the barren ridge. Here I espied a dolphin glide through the raging waves: I saw it a real spectre, and no deluding phantom; which, after being dashed by the waves upon the bubbling sand, was at once abandoned byits element and life. Whatever it may portend, I am full of fears. Despise not the ominous dream, nor trust your limbs but to a calm unruffled sea. If you are regardless of yourself, yet think of your dearer half, who will never be able to survive your untimely fate. But I hope for a sudden calm to the troubled waves; then plunge with safety, and glide along the level tides. Meantime, as the threatening waves forbid your desired course, let this epistle soften the hated delays. |
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Acontius Cydippae Accipe , Cydippe, despecti nomen Aconti , Illius , in pomo qui tibi verba dedit . Pone metum ! nihil hic iterum iurabis amanti ; Promissam satis est te semel esse mihi . Perlege ! discedat sic corpore languor ab isto , Quod meus est ulla parte dolere dolor ! Quid pudor ante subit ? nam , sicut in aede Dianae , Suspicor ingenuas erubuisse genas . Coniugium pactamque fidem , non crimina posco ; Debitus ut coniunx , non ut adulter amo . Verba licet repetas , quae demptus ab arbore fetus Pertulit ad castas me iaciente manus ; Invenies illic , id te spondere , quod opto Te potius , virgo , quam meminisse deam . Nunc quoque avemus idem , sed idem tamen acrius illud ; Adsumpsit vires auctaque flamma mora est , Quique fuit numquam parvus , nunc tempore longo Et spe , quam dederas tu mihi , crevit amor . Spem mihi tu dederas , meus hic tibi credidit ardor . Non potes hoc factum teste negare dea . Adfuit et , praesens ut erat , tua verba notavit Et visa est mota dicta tulisse coma . Deceptam dicas nostra te fraude licebit , Dum fraudis nostrae causa feratur amor . Fraus mea quid petiit , nisi uti tibi iungerer , unum ? Id te , quod quereris , conciliare potest . Non ego natura nec sum tam callidus usu ; Sollertem tu me , crede , puella , facis . Te mihi conpositis — siquid tamen egimus — a me Adstrinxit verbis ingeniosus Amor . Dictatis ab eo feci sponsalia verbis , Consultoque fui iuris Amore vafer . Sit fraus huic facto nomen , dicarque dolosus , Si tamen est , quod ames , velle tenere dolus ! En , iterum scribo mittoque rogantia verba ! Altera fraus haec est , quodque queraris habes . Si noceo , quod amo , fateor , sine fine nocebo , Teque , peti caveas tu licet , usque petam . Per gladios alii placitas rapuere puellas ; Scripta mihi caute littera crimen erit ? Di faciant , possim plures inponere nodos , Ut tua sit nulla libera parte fides ! Mille doli restant — clivo sudamus in imo ; Ardor inexpertum nil sinet esse meus . Sit dubium , possisne capi ; captabere certe . Exitus in dis est , sed capiere tamen . Ut partem effugias , non omnia retia falles , Quae tibi , quam credis , plura tetendit Amor . Si non proficient artes , veniemus ad arma , Inque tui cupido rapta ferere sinu . Non sum , qui soleam Paridis reprehendere factum , Nec quemquam , qui vir , posset ut esse , fuit . Nos quoque — sed taceo ! mors huius poena rapinae Ut sit , erit , quam te non habuisse , minor . Aut esses formosa minus , peterere modeste ; Audaces facie cogimur esse tua . Tu facis hoc oculique tui , quibus ignea cedunt Sidera , qui flammae causa fuere meae ; Hoc faciunt flavi crines et eburnea cervix , Quaeque , precor , veniant in mea colla manus , Et decor et vultus sine rusticitate pudentes , Et , Thetidis qualis vix rear esse , pedes . Cetera si possem laudare , beatior essem , Nec dubito , totum quin sibi par sit opus . Hac ego conpulsus , non est mirabile , forma Si pignus volui vocis habere tuae . Denique , dum captam tu te cogare fateri , Insidiis esto capta puella meis . Invidiam patiar ; passo sua praemia dentur . Cur suus a tanto crimine fructus abest ? Hesionen Telamon , Briseida cepit Achilles ; Utraque victorem nempe secuta virum . Quamlibet accuses et sis irata licebit , Irata liceat dum mihi posse frui . Idem , qui facimus , factam tenuabimus iram , Copia placandi sit modo parva tui . Ante tuos liceat flentem consistere vultus Et liceat lacrimis addere verba suis , Utque solent famuli , cum verbera saeva verentur , Tendere submissas ad tua crura manus ! Ignoras tua iura ; voca ! cur arguor absens ? Iamdudum dominae more venire iube . Ipsa meos scindas licet imperiosa capillos , Oraque sint digitis livida nostra tuis . Omnia perpetiar ; tantum fortasse timebo , Corpore laedatur ne manus ista meo . Sed neque conpedibus nec me conpesce catenis — Servabor firmo vinctus amore tui ! Cum bene se quantumque voles satiaverit ira , Ipsa tibi dices : 'quam patienter amat !' Ipsa tibi dices , ubi videris omnia ferri : 'Tam bene qui servit , serviat iste mihi !' Nunc reus infelix absens agor , et mea , cum sit Optima , non ullo causa tuente perit . Hoc quoque — quantumvis sit scriptum iniuria nostrum , Quod de me solo , nempe , queraris , habes . Non meruit falli mecum quoque Delia ; si non Vis mihi promissum reddere , redde deae . Adfuit et vidit , cum tu decepta rubebas , Et vocem memori condidit aure tuam . Omina re careant ! nihil est violentius illa , Cum sua , quod nolim , numina laesa videt . Testis erit Calydonis aper , sic saevus , ut illo Sit magis in natum saeva reperta parens . Testis et Actaeon , quondam fera creditus illis , Ipse dedit leto cum quibus ante feras ; Quaeque superba parens saxo per corpus oborto Nunc quoque Mygdonia flebilis adstat humo . Ei mihi ! Cydippe , timeo tibi dicere verum , Ne videar causa falsa monere mea ; Dicendum tamen est . hoc est , mihi crede , quod aegra Ipso nubendi tempore saepe iaces . Consulit ipsa tibi , neu sis periura , laborat , Et salvam salva te cupit esse fide . Inde fit ut , quotiens existere perfida temptas , Peccatum totiens corrigat illa tuum . Parce movere feros animosae virginis arcus ; Mitis adhuc fieri , si patiare , potest . Parce , precor , teneros corrumpere febribus artus ; Servetur facies ista fruenda mihi . Serventur vultus ad nostra incendia nati , Quique subest niveo lenis in ore rubor . Hostibus et siquis , ne fias nostra , repugnat , Sic sit ut invalida te solet esse mihi ! Torqueor ex aequo vel te nubente vel aegra Dicere nec possum , quid minus ipse velim ; Maceror interdum , quod sim tibi causa dolendi Teque mea laedi calliditate puto . In caput ut nostrum dominae periuria quaeso Eveniant ; poena tuta sit illa mea ! Ne tamen ignorem , quid agas , ad limina crebro Anxius huc illuc dissimulanter eo ; Subsequor ancillam furtim famulumque , requirens Profuerint somni quid tibi quidve cibi . Me miserum , quod non medicorum iussa ministro , Effingoque manus , adsideoque toro ! Et rursus miserum , quod me procul inde remoto , Quem minime vellem , forsitan alter adest ! Ille manus istas effingit , et adsidet aegrae Invisus superis cum superisque mihi , Dumque suo temptat salientem pollice venam , Candida per causam bracchia saepe tenet , Contrectatque sinus , et forsitan oscula iungit . Officio merces plenior ista suo est ! Quis tibi permisit nostras praecerpere messes ? Ad saepem alterius quis tibi fecit iter ? Iste sinus meus est ! mea turpiter oscula sumis ! A mihi promisso corpore tolle manus ! Inprobe , tolle manus ! quam tangis , nostra futura est ; Postmodo si facies istud , adulter eris . Elige de vacuis quam non sibi vindicet alter ; Si nescis , dominum res habet ista suum . Nec mihi credideris — recitetur formula pacti ; Neu falsam dicas esse , fac ipsa legat ! Alterius thalamo , tibi nos , tibi dicimus , exi ! Quid facis hic ? exi ! non vacat iste torus ! Nam quod habes et tu gemini verba altera pacti , Non erit idcirco par tua causa meae . Haec mihi se pepigit , pater hanc tibi , primus ab illa ; Sed propior certe quam pater ipsa sibi est . Promisit pater hanc , haec se iuravit amanti ; Ille homines , haec est testificata deam . Hic metuit mendax , haec et periura vocari ; An dubitas , hic sit maior an ille metus ? Denique , ut amborum conferre pericula possis , Respice ad eventus — haec cubat , ille valet . Nos quoque dissimili certamina mente subimus ; Nec spes par nobis nec timor aequus adest . Tu petis ex tuto ; gravior mihi morte repulsa est , Idque ego iam , quod tu forsan amabis , amo . Si tibi iustitiae , si recti cura fuisset , Cedere debueras ignibus ipse meis . Nunc , quoniam ferus hic pro causa pugnat iniqua , Ad quid , Cydippe , littera nostra redit ? Hic facit ut iaceas et sis suspecta Dianae ; Hunc tu , si sapias , limen adire vetes . Hoc faciente subis tam saeva pericula vitae — Atque utinam pro te , qui movet illa , cadat ! Quem si reppuleris , nec , quem dea damnat , amaris , Tu tunc continuo , certe ego salvus ero . Siste metum , virgo ! stabili potiere salute , Fac modo polliciti conscia templa colas ; Non bove mactato caelestia numina gaudent , Sed , quae praestanda est et sine teste , fide . Ut valeant aliae , ferrum patiuntur et ignes , Fert aliis tristem sucus amarus opem . Nil opus est istis ; tantum periuria vita Teque simul serva meque datamque fidem ! Praeteritae veniam dabit ignorantia culpae — Exciderant animo foedera lecta tuo . Admonita es modo voce mea cum casibus istis , Quos , quotiens temptas fallere , ferre soles . His quoque vitatis in partu nempe rogabis , Ut tibi luciferas adferat illa manus ? Audiet et repetens quae sunt audita requiret , Iste tibi de quo coniuge partus eat . Promittes votum — scit te promittere falso ; Iurabis — scit te fallere posse deos ! Non agitur de me ; cura maiore laboro . Anxia sunt causa pectora nostra tua . Cur modo te dubiam pavidi flevere parentes , Ignaros culpae quos facis esse tuae ? Et cur ignorent ? matri licet omnia narres . Nil tua , Cydippe , facta ruboris habent . Ordine fac referas ut sis mihi cognita primum Sacra pharetratae dum facit ipsa deae ; Ut te conspecta subito , si forte notasti , Restiterim fixis in tua membra genis ; Et , te dum nimium miror , nota certa furoris , Deciderint umero pallia lapsa meo ; Postmodo nescio qua venisse volubile malum , Verba ferens doctis insidiosa notis , Quod quia sit lectum sancta praesente Diana , Esse tuam vinctam numine teste fidem Ne tamen ignoret , scripti sententia quae sit , Lecta tibi quondam nunc quoque verba refer . 'Nube , precor ,' dicet , 'cui te bona numina iungunt ; Quem fore iurasti , sit gener ille mihi . Quisquis is est , placeat , quoniam placet ante Dianae !' Talis erit mater , si modo mater erit . Sed tamen ut quaerat quis sim qualisque , videto . Inveniet vobis consuluisse deam . Insula , Coryciis quondam celeberrima nymphis , Cingitur Aegaeo , nomine Cea , mari . Illa mihi patria est ; nec , si generosa probatis Nomina , despectis arguor ortus avis . Sunt et opes nobis , sunt et sine crimine mores ; Amplius utque nihil , me tibi iungit Amor . Appeteres talem vel non iurata maritum ; Iuratae vel non talis habendus eram . Haec tibi me in somnis iaculatrix scribere Phoebe ; Haec tibi me vigilem scribere iussit Amor ; E quibus alterius mihi iam nocuere sagittae , Alterius noceant ne tibi tela , cave ! Iuncta salus nostra est — miserere meique tuique ; Quid dubitas unam ferre duobus opem ? Quod si contigerit , cum iam data signa sonabunt , Tinctaque votivo sanguine Delos erit , Aurea ponetur mali felicis imago , Causaque versiculis scripta duobus erit : Effigie pomi testatur Acontius huius Quae fuerint in eo scripta fuisse rata . Longior infirmum ne lasset epistula corpus Clausaque consueto sit sibi fine : vale !
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Acontius to Cydippe BANISH all fear: you shall not here again swear in favor of your lover; it is enough that you have once solemnly vowed yourself to me. Read: so may that painful illness which spreads over all your joints, and racks my soul with a thousand fears, leave every affected part. Why does the blush kindle in your check? For I fancy I see your color change, as in the temple of Diana. I demand nothing criminal; I only ask that affinity and allegiance which you promised in the temple of Diana; I love you as a lawful husband, not an infamous adulterer. Ah! only repeat to yourself those binding words, which the unthinking fruit thrown by my hands presented to your chaste eyes. There you will find yourself to be bound by that vow, which I could wish you had rather remembered than the Goddess. But now I tremble even for that, while this hope has already gathered strength, and my flame increases every moment. For that love, which was always violent, is now increased by tedious delays, and by the hope you have cherished in my breast. You gave me hope; my love rested upon this foundation; nor can you deny a thing that was done in the presence of the Goddess. She was present, and overheard your vow; and her statue was seen to give a nod of approbation. I allow you to accuse me of having deceived you by an artful management, if, at the same time, you own it was love that prompted me to the ingenious deceit. What did all my artifice aim at, but to be joined to you alone? What you complain of, should render me rahter doubly dear to you. My ingenuity came neither from nature, nor from long practice; it is only you, dear girl, that can make me thus inventive. Love, fertile in expedients, turnished the form of words by which I bound you so close to myself; it indeed I really bound you. I inscribed a marriage-contract in words dictated by him; it was by following his suggestions, that I became so expert in the law. Let this stratagem then bear the name of fraud; let me be called cunning and deceitful, if it can be called a fraud to aim at the possession of what we love. See! I write a second time, and send you my prayers and entreaties. This too, no doubt, is a fraud; you have in this also a ground of complaint. If it is a crime to love, I own it, and must still be guilty without end. I must still pursue you, should even you yourself avoid my cager hopes. Others have carried away by force the virgin whom they loved; and can it be a crime in me to write a few words with artifice? How earnestly do I wish I could bind you by a thousand other ties, that no liberty might remain to plight your faith to another! A thousand stratagems are still left: I struggle hard to mount the difficult steep; nor will my ardent flame leave any expedient unessayed. It is uncertain, perhaps, whether you can be gained; but assuredly you shall. True; the event belongs to Heaven; still you shall be mine. Should you escape some, it will be impossible to elude all my snares; Love has spread more than you are well aware of. If artifice be unsuccessful, recourse must be had to violence, and you shall be borne by force into the arms of your eager admirer. I am none of those who blame the brave attempt of Paris, or of any who have shewn themselves men of steadiness and courage. I also will — But I am silent. Were death to be the punishment of the daring rape, yet that is still less than to be deprived of you. Were you moderately fair, you would be pursued with a moderate impatience; but a form so enchanting, makes us rash and resolute. You and your deluding eyes do ail this; those eyes that eclipse the sparkling stars, and have raised the flame that rages in my breast. Why lay you not the blame upon your golden locks and ivory neck, and those fair hands, which, Oh how happy, were they fondly circled round my neck? Why not upon your comely looks, and that enchanting face, where modesty shines without rusticity; your feet, which I can scarcely imagine are equaled by those of Thetis? Where I able to commend the rest also, I should be much happier; nor do I question that the whole frame is uniformly beautiful. What wonder then, if, overruled by so many powerful charms, I was anxious to have your promise, as a pledge of your love? Let it be so then; provided you are forced to own that you are deceived. I shall grant likewise that you were deceived by my address. Let me bear the envy; but let not the sufferer go without his reward. Why do I not reap the harvest of so great a crime? Telamon forced away Hesione, and Achilles Briseis: each captive followed her conqueror. Blame me as much as you will; I allow you even to be angry with me, if, though angry, I may be yet permitted to call you mine. I, who have raised this storm, will do all in my power to appease it; let me only have some opportunity of softening and quieting your resentment. Let me stand before you drowned in tears, and second my tears with the language they will naturally dictate; and, as is usual with slaves when they are afraid of the whip, let me clasp my suppliant hands round your knees. You seem not to know the right you have over me; summon me before you: why am I accused in my absence? Command me to appear in the right of one that has been long my mistress. Though full of resentment you tear my hair, and disfigure my face with your nails, I will patiently suffer all. I may indeed perhaps be apprehensive that those fair hands may be hurt in taking revenge. It will be needless to secure me with chains and fetters: love is a bond that will retain me beyond the power of an escape. When your resentment is fully satiated, you will be forced to sax, How patiently he loves! When you observe me submissively endure all, surely you cannot avoid saying, Who serves so well, let him continue to serve. Now I am accused in my absence; and my cause, though highly just, is lost for want of an advocate. But if it be allowed that the words I wrote, induced by love, are an injury, you have cause of complaint only against me. Does Diana also deserve to be deceived? If you will not perform the promise made to me, perform your promise to the Goddess. She was present, and saw your blushes on finding yourself deceived; she treasured up your words with a recollective car. May all the omens vanish in air: yet it is certain that no one takes a severer revenge, when (which Heaven forbid should be your case) she thinks the homage due to her neglected. As an instance of this, the Calydonian boar may be mentioned; for we know that a mother was found more barbarous towards her son, than even the savage beast. Other examples may be found in Actæon, who appeared a savage to those very dogs, with which he had formerly hunted down savages; and in that haughty mother turned into a stone, who now stands disconsolate in the Mygdonian plains. Alas! Cydippe, I am afraid to speak the truth, lest you should think I admonish you falsely for my own sake. Yet I must speak: it is on this account (believe me) that you are so often seized with sickness, when preparing to wed. Diana herself wishes you guiltless, and strives to hinder you from running into perjury; she desires, that, with faith unstained, you may avoid giving offence. Hence, as often as you are in danger of being perfidious, the Goddess prevents the fatal crime. Cease then to provoke the deadly bow of the implacable Goddess; she may yet be softened, if you will not obstinately persist. Forbear, amiable nymph, to enfecble your tender limbs by preying fevers; preserve that blooming face for the sake of Acontius; preserve those enchanting looks formed to raise a flame in my breast, and the lively bloom that varies your snow-white face. If any enemy interpose to obstruct my happiness, may he feel the same torments under which I languish, when sickness threatens you. I am equally upon the rack whether I hear of your intended marriage or illness; nor is it easy to determine which apprehension gives most anxiety. Sometimes I am distracted to think that I should be the unhappy cause of your grief, and fear that my innocent artifice may have fatal effects. Grant, Heaven, that Cydippe's perjurics may be upon the head of her lover, and that the punishment may be transferred to me alone. Yet always restless till I know how it is with you, I creep silently to your gate full of anxiety. There whispering privately to some one of the slaves, I enquire whether you have been relieved by gentle slumbers, or refreshing food. O were I blest, as the physician, to reach out the cordial draughts, press your soft hand or lean gently upon the bed! But how hard, and yet more than wretched is my fate; to be thus banished from your presence, while he whom most I fear sits perhaps close by you. Hated alike by the Gods and me, he is yet allowed gently to squeeze your hand, and lean over your fading cheeks. Fond of every pretence to feed the beating vein, he slides his daring hand along your snowy arm, hides it in your bosom, and snatches the fragrant kisses, a roward too great for his officious care. What right have you to reap the harvest of my bliss? Or how are you empowered to encroach upon another's bounds? I hat bosom is mine; you basely rob na or my kisses. Take off your hand from a body promised to me. Traitor, take off your hands; you touch a bosom that will soon be mine; in doing this hereafter, you will become an intamous adulterer Choose from among others, where no prior right is claimed; for know, that another lore commands that breast: nor trust to my testimony; read the form by which she engaged herself; and, to prevent a possibility of deceit, make even Cydippe repeat the binding vow. Again then I say, Depart from another's bed. What brings you here? He gone; this bed is already possessed: for, even if it be allowed that you also have a promise of the beauteous prize, yet the justice of your claim comes-far short of mine. I rely upon a promise made by herself you claim the promise of a father. Surely she is to herself in a degree nearer than that of father. Her father barely promised; she hath vowed herself to her lover: he called men to witness, but she bound herself in the presence of a Geddess. He fears a breach of promise, she dreads the guilt of perjury: can you doubt, after this, which has the juster ground of concern? In fine, that you may be the better able to compare the danger on both sides, reflect only upon the events that threaten each; he enjoys perfect health, she lies in hazard of her life. We also enter the lists unequally matched; neither our hopes nor our fears are alike. You unconcernedly solicit the fair; to me a repulse is more insupportable than death. I am at present deeply enamored of what you perhaps may love some time hence. If you have any regard to right and justice, you ought frankly to yield to my superior flame. And now, when he inhumanly contends in an unrighteous cause, be attentive, Cydippe, to the counsel my epistle gives you. It is he that brings on your present iliness, and makes you suspected by Diana; forbid him therefore, it you are wise, any more to appreach your gate. It is your compliance in this case, that subjects you to these painful calamities of life. Why is not he who occasions all these disasters punished in your stead? Banish him only from you, nor show an affection to one disapproved by the Goddess; you will instantly recover your health, and restore me to myself and happiness. Banish therefore fear, amiable maid; you shall enjoy an established health; only neglect not the temple, conscious to your sacred vow. The heavenly powers are not appeased by slaughtered beasts; truth only, and a faithful regard to our vows, can avert their anger. Let others to recover health run through fire and sword: let them hope for relief from bitter draughts. You have no need of these: avoid only the guilt of perjury, perform the promised vow, and preserve both yourself and me. The not knowing that you were in fault, will excuse what is past; the form by which you bound yourself may have slipped out of your mind. But now you are fully admonished, both by my words, and those fetters, which, as often as you endeavour to break from them, bind you the faster. But could you get happily clear of even these, still remember that you must invoke her aid in the pressing hours of child-bed. She will attend; and, calling to mind the promise you made, enquire to what husband the birth belongs. If then you make a vow for your recovery, the Goddess will disregard it, knowing you to be false; if you confirm it by an oath, she still knows you can forget your engagements to the Gods themselves. I am not so much concerned for my own fate: a still greater care burthens my mind, and fills me with fear and anxiety for your life. Why do your trembling parents mourn your doubtful fate, while you keep them in ignorance of your daring crime? And why are they kept in ignorance? It is proper that you disclose all to your mother. There is nothing, Cydippe, of which you need be ashamed. Repeat all to her in order; say that I first saw you as you were engaged in the solemnities of the buskined Goddess. Tell her that, as soon as I saw you, (if perhaps you gave any attention to what I then did,) my eyes were immoveably fixed upon every limb and feature; that, while I was thus lost in admiration, (the sure sign of a growing love,) my cloak insensibly dropped from my shoulders; and that afterwards you perceived an apple, uncertain whence, come rolling towards you, but cunningly marked with ensnaring words; which, as they were read in the sacred presence of Diana, made the Goddess a witness that your faith is tied down to me. But that she may not be ignorant of what was contained in the writing, repeat to her the words you at that time read in the temple. Marry without hesitation, will she say, the youth to whom the gracious Gods have joined you: let him only be my son-in-law, whom you have solemnly sworn to accept in that character. Whoever he may be, as he has already made himself agreeable to Diana, he is agreeable also to me. Such will be your mother's behaviour, if she really acts the part of a mother to you. Yet you may admonish her to enquire who and what I am; nor will she find the Goddess to have been wholly regardless of your happiness. An isle, by name Ceos, formerly ennobled by the Corycian nymphs, is surrounded by the Ægean sea. This is my native country: and, if you are pleased with illustrious names, my ancestors will not fall below your hopes. I have also riches; my morals are without reproach; and, if no other recommendations existed, love makes you mine by the justest claim. You might even be pleased with such a husband, had no vow passed your lips; such an one might be acceptable, did no prior engagement intervene. These words the illustrious huntress dictated to me in my sleep; these too wakeful love commanded me boldly to write. I am already deeply wounded by Cupid's darts; it is yours, fair nymph, to beware of being pierced by the arrows of Diana. Our welfare is inseparable; have compassion both on me and yourself. Why do you delay the only cure that remains for both? If I should accomplish this object, I will, when the sacred solemnity begins, and Delos is sprinkledwith votive blood, consecrate a golden image of the happy apple, and upon it inscribe our fates in the following distich: "Acontius proclaims, by the consecrated image of this apple, that the inscription engraven upon it, was fulfilled to his desire." But not to fatigue you, already too much exhausted by a long epistle, and to end all in the usual terms of concluding, Farewell. |